


Leverage: The Road to Redemption

by Gilbert_H_Karr



Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 13:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7271002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilbert_H_Karr/pseuds/Gilbert_H_Karr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The road to redemption is paved with...diamonds? This piece has an episode tag to The Rundown Job. Eliot, Parker and Hardison are stuck in DC when Eliot is shot not once but twice during a con. This is the story of what happened after Eliot walked away from that ambulance, leaning on his friends, cementing their friendship. Constructive comments welcome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

" _I don't claim to be a Wise Man, a Poet or a Saint,_

_I'm just another man who's searching for a better way_

_But my heart beats loud as thunder for the things that I believe_

_Sometimes I want to run for cover. Sometimes I want to scream."_

_-Jon Bon Jovi, Bang a Drum_

Eliot knew what gunshots were. He knew how to handle them, what effect they had on the body, and what the aftermath was. He was a soldier, a sniper, and he'd been involved in more covert operations than he cared to remember, so he knew what sacrifice was. He had been both the tortured and the torturer, the predator and the prey. Eliot knew what it meant to fight through pain, to keep going when the only thing keeping a person going was his own grit. He had been shot before, so when Udall shot him, he was reasonably sure he could still function, at least long enough to be sure his friends were safe and the situation that Udall presented was handled.

It was this knowledge that allowed him to continue his attack on Udall, even after he had been shot, not once but twice, and allowed him to continue running even with a hole in his leg, to use the wounded shoulder to knock the man out, thereby neutralizing this latest threat to himself and his friends. He wondered, for a moment, if he had killed the man, but didn't have a lot of time to think about it, as his leg gave way upon landing, and he sprawled like a ragdoll in the middle of the aisle. He tucked his head into his chest at the last moment, and tried to land as well as he could. He succeeded only partially, as he ended up with a few more bumps and bruises, and did some further damage to his injured shoulder. He got up slowly, still slightly disoriented from the motion. Grasping the metal pole in front of him, he used his good arm to pull himself up, far enough to sit on the train's bench. He just sat still for a moment, catching his breath. Parker and Hardison would be back soon, and he would need all of the energy he could get to handle the two of them together.  _I need to call Vance,_ he thought.  _Let him know the threat's been neutralized._

Vance was supposed to be taking care of the things they did to neutralize this threat, and there was a lot to take care of. That brought Eliot's thoughts back to Udall, and he peered at the man through eyes that were starting to water. He sighed in relief when he saw the man's chest moving up and down, however slightly. He was alive. Not that Eliot cared if the man lived or died, particularly, but it was easier to stay under the radar if there wasn't an unexplained corpse floating around.

With some effort, he maneuvered his phone out of his pocket and placed it on his good leg. Using his good arm, he scrolled to Vance's contact information, and pulled up the screen to write a text message. He sat staring at the screen for a moment, then cleared it and changed to the call screen. Vance had been away from his phone earlier, and Eliot didn't want to take the chance that the message would be intercepted by the wrong person. Besides, it took less effort to call than it did to text, and he was quickly losing energy.

"Vance," he said, when he recognized the voice that answered. "Mission accomplished." He listened for a moment, and then said, "In the underground. Maintenance tunnel nearest the Foggy Bottom station. Yeah. I'll have to meet you upstairs, though." Suddenly he had another thought. "And we'll need two doses of the flu vaccine Udall was storing at his place." He was silent a moment longer, listening some more, and then said, "Thanks, Vance. See you soon."

Parker and Hardison came back inside about that time, hanging on to one another for dear life, as though they were afraid if they let go they might never hold one another again. He could relate to that feeling. Things like this had that effect. He studied both of them carefully, satisfying himself that they weren't injured. Parker, always a bit more perceptive than Hardison, if sometimes more naïve, guessed his intent, and said, "We're fine. You?"

He nodded, then smiled his slightly sarcastic smile, and said, "Well, you know, there's just this little matter of being shot. Twice."

At that moment, they jerked their heads around as they heard a clattering sound, and a second later, two men became visible at the bottom of the staircase to the maintenance tunnel. They were pushing a stretcher between them, and Eliot marveled that it even fit through that passage. He would have sworn while running through there that it wasn't wide enough for a stretcher. It was barely wide enough for him. And it was just going to be oodles of fun getting him back up those stairs on that thing. As the men drew closer, Eliot recognized their uniforms.  _DC Fire and Rescue._

The two EMT's parked the gurney on the platform right in front of the door. When they stepped inside, Eliot glared at them and said, "I ain't ridin' that thing."

"Sir, it's going to be a nightmare for you to try to walk up those stairs. Your friend, the military guy, asked us to see if you needed help."

"I'm fine, thank you. I can walk."

They kept reflexively reaching to touch Eliot, trying to find a place it was safe to touch him, until he growled his scariest growl and put some iron in his voice. "Go on. Get out of here. Tell Vance I'll see him topside." They cowered a bit at his tone, and Eliot almost felt sorry for them. After all, they were just trying to do their jobs.

Parker stepped up on one side, while Hardison stepped up on the other. It took a while, and he felt each step they took, but eventually they made it up the stairs, to the street above. Eliot looked at all the people crowding the street, some hurrying by to try to get wherever it was they were going, and others who had obviously heard about the commotion in the subway tunnel on the news, and had come to 'rubber-neck', as his father used to say.

The ambulance was parked right near the entrance to the maintenance tunnel.  _Thank God for small favors,_ he thought, allowing Parker and Hardison to half walk, half drag him over to it, and sighing in relief as they helped him sit down on the back. The lead EMT who had tried to treat him downstairs came over and started cutting the sleeve of his shirt so he could inspect the gunshot wound. Eliot looked around, appraising the scene and making sure they weren't in any danger in the open like this, when he spotted Vance standing over in the edge of the trees, talking to someone. When their eyes met, Vance nodded.  _Thank you._

Eliot smiled, and nodded to him in return.  _You're welcome._

Even so, Vance waited until the EMT was in the middle of wrapping Eliot's shoulder in a rather awkward, by the looks of it, bandage before walking over.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Text in italics is actual lines from the episode, as verified using Leverage, Seriously.

" _Come on. Part time. For your country. By the time the beuracrats wake up, it'll be too late_." Eliot had suspected that Vance would try something like this, and while he wouldn't forever close the door to working with Vance again, he also wouldn't commit to doing so on a regular basis. He was happy where he was at the moment, thank you very much, but hard experience had taught him that very few things last forever.

" _I just met a guy who made that same argument. He couldn't wait for his country to catch up to him."_ The EMT had now wrapped both his shoulder and his leg, but he wasn't happy with the way he'd had to bandage the shoulder, and he was hovering, trying to figure out what to do for it. Each time he touched Eliot, a new wave of pain shot through him. He hadn't pushed too hard when Eliot refused hospital treatment, and Eliot suspected he had Vance to thank for that. Now, Eliot, annoyed and in pain, growled _, "All right._ " Raising his arms in a clear sign of surrender, the EMT beat a hasty retreat. Eliot looked back at Vance, focusing once again on the conversation they were having.

" _The thing is, he did what he thought he had to do."_  Eliot rose and moved to where Parker and Hardison were waiting for him nearby. He looked back at Vance.  _"I'll tell you something, Vance. I know firsthand. You become obsessed with beating your enemy, it's really easy to become 'em."_  They watched as Udall walked between them, being led by two policemen to a nearby patrol car.

" _Promise you'll at least consider working with us again_ ," Vance said, hopeful. He had to try.

" _I work with them now."_

" _Honor among thieves?_ " Vance asked.

" _Something like that,"_  Eliot answered, looking him square in the eye. Eliot started to walk away, and grimaced as he realized the crutch was throwing his weight distribution off. It didn't help that he didn't have an uninjured side anymore. Both sides of his body had suffered from gunshots.

" _World can always use some more good guys_ ," Vance said wistfully.

" _Yeah, well. Too bad we're the bad guys."_  He dropped the crutch and put an arm around Hardison's shoulder. Parker walked up on the other side, sliding in between the injured arm and his side, and placing an arm on his chest to help steady him.

" _You're shot. You should go to the hospital,"_  Parker said, with some concern.

" _I don't do hospitals."_

" _I told you. He takes getting shot very lightly,"_  Hardison said.

**_Their progress across the park was slow. Eliot's internal time sense told him it was around 4 o'clock when he came topside again, and when the wind hit him, he realized he had somehow lost his jacket. He reflexively pulled his friends a bit closer, to shield the wind. He was making plans two steps ahead as usual. They would have to stay in DC for a couple of days—at least until he could get up and around mostly on his own. As they reached the sidewalk on the other side of the park, they heard the honk of a car horn, and a black sedan rolled to a stop right in front of them. The driver's side window rolled down, and the driver said, "Get in."_ **

Eliot apparently recognized the driver, because he nodded to the others that it was all right. Hardison helped Eliot climb in, and then jogged around to the other side of the car, and got in the back passenger-side seat. When they were inside, the car sped off through DC traffic. Forty five minutes later, they were leaving the city itself and driving through the suburbs of Virginia. The car wound around and around back roads, past the suburbs and out into the countryside, past vast swaths of pastureland, until it turned off onto a dirt road, which was little more than a trail really. A few turns later, the car stopped in front of a century old farmhouse.

Hardison and Parker helped Eliot get out of the car, and supported him as he limped toward the house. When they were clear of the car, the driver disappeared around the house. The door opened as they approached, and Parker held the door while Hardison helped Eliot inside and straight through to one of the back bedrooms.

Parker thought it looked a little bit like the treatment room Eliot had set up in one of the upstairs apartments above the brewpub. Using furniture to brace himself, Eliot hobbled over to one of the cots, and seated himself on it, taking in his surroundings.

"Now what?"

"Now we wait. Parker, will you go into the kitchen and look in the refrigerator? I need some water to combat the blood loss." Without a word, Parker disappeared. A few minutes later, the door opened again, and Parker returned, followed by Vance and the driver.

"Vance. Nice digs for a safe house."

"Thanks. First things first. I believe you requested flu vaccine."

"Yep." Eliot looked at Parker and Hardison. "Parker was exposed to the virus when she took the bomb out and burned it. You were exposed when you followed her. You both need a dose of the vaccine. Sit down over here and let Vance give you one." Vance had donned surgical gloves, and was drawing liquid into a syringe.

"We were all exposed at the pig farm. You should have a dose, too," Parker said, taking off her jacket, and untying the string around her neck that kept her torch and lock-picking tools on her back. She helped Hardison take his jacket off, and lacing her fingers with his, she led him across the room, and sat down next to Eliot, pulling Hardison down into the chair next to hers, holding his hand tightly all the time.

Vance moved over next to Hardison, and Eliot spoke up. "He doesn't like needles."

Hardison realized what was about to happen, and tucked his arms behind him, ducking his head, slightly embarrassed to show his fear to Eliot's friends. Parker squeezed his hand tighter, and Eliot reached around behind Parker to place a hand on his shoulder. Grasping his other arm in an iron grip, Vance slid his sleeve up above his elbow, and slid the needle in before Hardison even realized what happened.

When he was finished, he moved to Parker, and was finished with her a moment later. He looked at Eliot. "Your girl here is right—you were exposed at the pig farm and so was I. I brought enough for all of us."

Eliot didn't answer and Vance said, "We can do it now, or wait for the doctor. Your choice."

Eliot had no clue to whom Vance was referring. Between them, they knew several doctors who could serve their purposes in this situation. Eliot nodded his permission, and said, "Vance, I'm surprised you were able to get here so soon. There's a ton of loose ends to tie up." Vance injected him with the flu vaccine.

"Some of the boys can handle the loose ends for now. I'll have to go back soon, though. I'll try to wait until the doctor shows up."

"Speaking of that, whom did you call and how did you know we hadn't already made other arrangements besides coming here?"

"You weren't exactly planning on staying in DC, and when you told me that you had dropped Scalzi, I knew someone had probably called you to do the job, so I thought you wouldn't want to stay in a hotel. As for who I called, it's a person who owes us a favor."

"Not Doc Carrington?"

"No. She's away currently on extended detached duty, doing some training of medical personnel as part of a military exchange program overseas. She would come if she thought we needed her, but I'd rather not call her unless it's an emergency."

"Agreed." Vance handed Eliot the last syringe, and stood to take off his uniform jacket. He sat back down, and Eliot injected him with the contents of the syringe.


	3. Chapter 3

Eliot took the water that Parker gave him gratefully, and drained the bottle. When he was finished, he looked at the two of them, and said, "The next thing on the list for all of us is to shower. We'll need to burn our clothes, and possibly also our shoes. Then, we'll need some supplies."

"Come on. I'll show you where the other bedrooms are," Vance said. "If you'll make a list, I can have one of my men pick up your supplies." With that, he led the two younger people out, and then returned a moment later, with another bottle of water for Eliot. Opening one of the cabinets, he pulled out a bag of saline solution, and started to prepare an IV.

"Vance, I don't want the others here while the doctor is treating me." He glanced at the door.

"I'm pretty sure they aren't going to want to leave you, brother. And they've earned the right to stay. If you don't want them here, you'll have to send them away. I'm not going to do it."

"My main concern is making sure that if the two facets of my life must clash, neither will cause harm to the other."

"And it's hard for you to do that not knowing who the doctor is," Vance said, glancing at Eliot with a look he couldn't read. He took a deep breath, and then said, "Don Sullivan."

"Sully? You called Sully?"

"That's who Doc would've called, and you know it. She trained him. He's the next best after her. And, however you might feel about him, he's not a danger to your team."

That was true. He wasn't. What he was, however, was a world class interrogator. Eliot had no real reason not to like Sully. Their paths had crossed a couple of times, on missions involving more than one team, but they had never really been on the same team. Eliot and Doc and Vance made too good a team together for anyone to be willing to split them up often. Still, Eliot had been on the wrong side of too many of those interrogations in other countries for this to make him comfortable. He hid his feelings well, but Vance knew him better than most, and must have seen something in his actions or on his face, because he asked, "Eliot?"

"When's he supposed to get here?"

"Well, he said he was finishing up a case and would stop by on his way home."

"Anytime, then. I'd better shower."

"You need some help getting in there?"

"We'll see." Eliot was already up and moving, using the furniture to help him retain his mobility on his own. Vance followed behind, to catch him if he started to fall. He hopped over to the small stool Vance had in the corner, and sat down on it. Vance fished the first aid kit out of the cabinet, and withdrew a small pair of scissors, handing them to Eliot. He then placed the kit within easy reach of the injured man.

"Go on back and check in with your men. You don't want to be all night getting the loose ends tied up. I'll be fine." Maneuvering around until he was able to get his wallet out of his back pocket with the other hand, he handed Vance two twenties and said, "Maybe bring some dinner back when you come. I probably won't eat much, but Parker and Hardison will be hungry, and now that I think about it, it might not be a good idea for them to go out again, especially if I can't be with them."

He saw the look Vance was giving him, and said simply, "Just a bit of my past life starting to rear its ugly head. The person in question, well, revenge ain't his style, unless he's getting paid for it, that is. I'd be more worried about him seeing them as a newfound threat and deciding to eliminate it before it causes further problems."

Vance nodded, and said, "What else do you need?"

"That depends on how well stocked you keep this place."

"Probably as well as you keep yours stocked."

"All right, then you'll have pain meds and antibiotics, yeah?"

Vance nodded.

"Then I just need a shirt I don't have to pull over my head, and jeans that don't have a hole in the leg. And we'll all need another pair of shoes. I'm not sure what else Parker and Hardison will need. And I don't know their sizes."

"I'll ask them. Are you sure you're going to be able to get back to bed all right?"

"I'll be fine." Vance left the room.

While they had been talking, Eliot had cut what was left of his shirt off, and holding onto the sink, he had slid his jeans down to his knees with one hand, and he now proceeded to kick them the rest of the way off of the uninjured leg. Sitting back down on the stool, he worked them off of the other leg, and let them drop to the ground. He started to unwind the bandage on his shoulder. The outer layers, which were mostly dry, came off easily. When he got to the inner layers, soaked with blood, he discovered the bandage had stuck to the wound. Wetting a towel under the sink faucet, he clenched his teeth and pulled hard and fast. The bandage came off and fresh blood welled out of the wound. He replaced the gauze with the wet towel, putting pressure on the wound as he did so. When the pain had faded somewhat, he put one hand on the side of the bathtub, and shifted his body to the side of the tub. Then he reached out and turned the water on, and waited until it got hot. Turning himself around, so that his legs were in the shower, he stood up and began washing himself all over with the medical grade anti-bacterial soap with which Vance kept this shower outfitted.

Eliot quickly moved through his ablutions in the shower, knowing his leg wouldn't last long. He washed his hair, and then concentrated on scrubbing himself from top to bottom. He winced slightly as the hot water hit his wounds, and gritted his teeth, but he wanted to be sure the wounds were not contaminated by either the virus or any type of debris or germs, so he stayed with it. Ten minutes later, he was out, toweling his hair dry. He dressed only in a clean pair of boxers, and draped a towel over his shoulders, not seeing any reason to dress, when he'd only have to remove his clothes again when Sully arrived.

He ran a comb through his hair, and then moved back out into the room he had come from, to find Hardison and Parker there waiting for him. Hardison jumped up and moved over to help him back to the cot he had sat on before. Eliot growled at him, wondering when he would learn they Eliot had no problem asking for help when he needed it. The issue was that they had a different perspective of what constitutes "need". Hardison ended up following him, ready to catch him if he fell.

When he sat back down on his cot, Parker handed him another bottle of water.

"I texted Sophie and let her know we're staying here for a few days." Hardison exchanged a glance with Eliot. Neither man was sure he wanted to know what she had said in that text. Parker was Parker, and sometimes, communicating with her could be interesting. Shaking his head, Eliot made a mental note to call Nate later.

"Where's Vance?" Hardison asked.

"He went to finish taking care of business. He's bringing dinner back when he's finished. Doctor Sullivan should be here any minute. Will you two go out into the living area and answer the door when he comes?"

The two clearly wanted to stay, but they knew they might not hear the door when the doctor came, and it was more important for them to be there now. So, they went out and turned on the television, scrolling through the channels to find something to watch. They sat down together on the sofa, holding one another and settling in to wait.


	4. Chapter 4

While he was alone, Eliot wasted no time in calling Nate. When the mastermind answered, Eliot said, "Hey. Have you talked to Sophie?" He paused, listening for a moment. "We've run into some delays. We'll be staying in DC for another two days." He fell silent again for a moment, then said, "I'll talk to you about it when we get back. Yeah. See you then. Bye, Nate."

He had just hung up the phone and was poking at the hole in his leg when there was a knock on the door. Before he had a chance to answer, the door opened, and a tall, thin, somewhat gangly man walked in, and it was then that Eliot realized one of the reasons why he didn't like Sully. He was a man who had no regard for personal space. He got too close, and his actions were awkward, clumsy, like his hands were too big for his body. He was followed closely by Parker and Hardison. He turned abruptly to them, and said, somewhat rudely, "We don't need an audience."

"Lay off, Sully. Let's just get on with this, yeah?"

"Doc Carrington wouldn't allow an audience in here. Why should I?"

The only reason Kat didn't allow the team to sit in while he was being treated was because she knew he didn't want them to have to see it, but Eliot wasn't about to tell Sully that. While he was deciding what he did plan to say, the door creaked open and Vance walked in, looking back and forth between the two of them, and said casually, "What's going on?" At his signal, Hardison and Parker slipped off to the corner and sat side by side in the chairs they sat in before, while the attention was off of them.

"I don't think we need an audience in here, but Eliot says they've earned the right to stay."

"I tend to agree." Sully looked triumphantly at Eliot, and Vance added, "With him." He inclined his head toward Eliot. "And technically, Eliot outranks you. Let's get on with it. It's getting late."

"You all asked me for help. If you don't want my help, I'll be going." Sully rose, and started to walk out of the room.

"Go ahead. I can sew up my own injuries," Eliot said.

"I wonder what Doc will have to say about that? She  _is_ still your boss."

A strange look crossed Sully's face, and he swallowed hard. He didn't want to think about what Doc would say if she found out he left an injured patient to his own devices, especially when that patient was one of the two of them. They might not be serious about telling her, but he couldn't afford to take the chance.

"Fine," he said, with poor grace. "If you're staying, stay out of the way." He looked pointedly at Vance, who smiled slightly, and leaned forward and picked up Eliot's legs, placing them on the bed and helping him get comfortable. He then cleaned the back of Eliot's hand and felt around for a vein. When he found it, he slid the needle in, slid the cannula over it, removed the needle, taped it down, and started the flow on the IV. Squeezing Eliot's good shoulder gently, Vance sat right back down in the same chair he had just risen from.

Now, Eliot realized the other reason he didn't like Sully. The man asked entirely too many questions, and he treated his patients like they were property instead of people. In fairness, the questions were probably meant to put his patients at ease, but with the kind of background Eliot had, those questions had the opposite effect.

Eliot didn't say a word, but he grew more tense with every question Sully asked. He didn't answer, and concentrated on ignoring the man, but the tenseness made the treatment harder too. Finally, Vance looked at Sully and said, "If you don't shut up, you and Doc and I are going to have a long talk when this is all over."

Sully fell silent. He filled a syringe with morphine and went to inject it into the secondary IV port, when Eliot's hand shot out and grasped his wrist. "No," he said.

Sully shrugged and put it aside, and picked up a scalpel. The gunshot wound on Eliot's shoulder was torn and jagged from the punch that put Udall out of commission. Sully used the scalpel to lengthen the incision and remove some of the jagged edges, so it would be easier to sew. Sully then poured disinfectant into the wound, and began scrubbing it roughly with a stiff bristled brush. Eliot gritted his teeth and remained silent. When he was finished, Sully wiped the incision down, and began sewing it up. Eliot was slightly pale and a bit sweaty by the time Sully finished sewing up and bandaging the shoulder wound. He needed to recover a bit before Sully started on the second gunshot wound. He peeled off his gloves and without a word, rose and left the room. Vance unfolded the blanket at the foot of Eliot's cot and covered him with it. Leaning forward, he spoke softly. "I brought supper back with me. I'll see if I can get your friends to leave long enough to eat. Rest, and keep drinking water." Eliot nodded, closing his eyes. Vance walked over to where Hardison and Parker sat in the corner of the room, and spoke softly to them. Eliot couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but he sensed that they weren't willing to leave.

"Parker. Hardison," Eliot spoke just loudly enough for his voice to carry to where they were. Parker rose and moved over to Eliot's side, bringing Hardison with her. She looked down at Eliot, looking like she wanted to cry.

"How are you feeling, Parker?" He reached up and put a hand on her forehead. "Vance's shot isn't making you sick, is it?"

She reached up and took his hand in hers and held it. "No. I'm fine. Just worried about you, Sparky."

"I'm all right," he said, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. He continued. "Vance has supper in the kitchen. You two go get something to eat. I'll be here when you get back." For a moment, he thought they weren't going to go, but after a moment, they collected themselves and walked out into the other room, leaving Eliot lying alone in the treatment room. He closed his eyes again, resting.

A few moments later, they were back. Parker and Hardison brought their plates back in to the treatment room, and took up chairs next to Eliot's cot. Eliot didn't open his eyes. For a few minutes, it was just the three of them. They hoped Eliot had fallen asleep, but they still couldn't bring themselves to leave him.

His phone beeped, and he raised his uninjured hand and opened his eyes long enough to look at the message. He didn't reply, he just closed the text screen, put the phone back in his pocket, and closed his eyes again. Neither of Eliot's friends wanted to disturb him, so neither commented on the text, hoping he would go back to sleep.

Five or six minutes passed, and Parker was watching Eliot in the way only Parker can. She was trying to figure out if he was sleeping. His breathing was deep and even, so it certainly seemed like he was sleeping.

"Parker. Stop staring at me. I'm trying to rest."

"Sorry. I just wanted to see if you were sleeping."

"Not anymore." He paused for a moment, and then said, "What exactly did you say to Sophie in the text you sent?"

"I just told her we were staying in DC for a couple of extra days because you had been injured." She saw the way he was looking at her, and spoke up quickly, saying, "I'll let you read it if you want." He nodded.

She pulled out her phone, and pulled up the message screen, scrolling to Sophie's entry. When it came up, she scrolled to the message in question, and handed the phone to Eliot.

_We're staying in DC for two more days. Sparky's bleeding, and we might have the flu. We'll be home when we're done._

Eliot bit back the chuckle that welled up in his chest at the message that was so very much Parker, and then winced as he imagined Sophie opening and reading that message. Well, it explained the somewhat panicked message he had received from Sophie a moment ago, asking if everything was all right. He would answer her before they got started again, now that he knew what it was she was asking, and what to say to her.

"Parker, when I feel better, you and I are going to talk about what you tell people in an emergency text message."

Parker looked at him with a funny expression on her face. "What? They needed to know."

This time he did chuckle, and then wished he hadn't when the wave of pain it caused slammed through him. He just shook his head, used Parker's phone to write a new message to Sophie, explaining that everything was fine and they would talk more when he got back, and then he handed Parker back her phone and closed his eyes again. He felt her take his hand, and gently squeezed the hand she put in his to let her know that everything was okay. Vance and Sully found them that way when they walked back into the room five minutes later.


	5. Chapter 5

Eliot opened his eyes when he sensed that Vance and Sully had returned. Without a word, Parker and Hardison moved back to the chairs they had occupied before, over in the corner of the room. Noticing the thin sheen of sweat on Eliot's forehead, Vance took Eliot's wrist and counted out his pulse. Reaching into his bag, Sully took out a stethoscope and listened to the hitter's chest. He frowned, and Eliot asked, "What's the verdict?"

"I don't like the way you're breathing." Vance walked over to one of the cabinets, and removed an oxygen tank and mask. He fitted the mask over Eliot's head and turned it on.

"You seem to be showing some signs of shock. I'm going to give you fluids for a while before we operate again." He looked at Vance. "Do you still have your people store blood at a private blood bank?"

"Yes. Is that necessary?"

"Maybe. It'll depend on how the fluids do. You might want to put them on standby."

Vance nodded. Sully, watching Eliot carefully, suddenly leaned forward and handed him a small bucket. He emptied the contents of his stomach into it, and then set it on the floor beside him. Vance handed him a glass of water. He swished it around inside his mouth. It felt good to wash the sour taste away.

"Drink that. It'll make you feel better," Vance said.

Eliot knew that was how it normally worked, but he wasn't sure he wanted to chance it. When he glanced back at Vance, his friend was still looking at him. He took a small swallow and was surprised to find he did feel a little bit better.

Eliot looked at Sully. "You aren't going to be able to operate for another few hours. Why don't you get some sleep? Vance can monitor me, and he'll wake you when it's time."

Sully looked at him for a moment, and then gave a single nod, and left the room. When he was gone, Eliot looked over toward Parker and Hardison. They had been troopers all through this long, long day, and he wanted them to rest as well.

"Parker? Hardison?"

They both rose and moved over to Eliot's bedside, and Eliot said, "It's been a really long day. You two need some sleep as well."

"We don't want to leave you."

"I'll be fine. It's important that we all get some rest, to fend off the flu."

Vance spoke up. "I'll take care of Eliot. We've done this before."

"Go on. Get some rest now." Eliot put the back of his hand on Parker's cheek, unobtrusively checking for fever, and traced the outline of her face, down to her chin.

"Wake us when Sully's ready to operate?"

"If you aren't awake and back in here, I promise."

Hand in hand, Hardison and Parker walked out of the room, and a moment later, Eliot heard the door of one of the other bedrooms close.

(0o0)

Six hours later, Sully came back into the room, to find Vance rooting around in the medical bag. Eliot seemed to be sleeping. Vance took out a thermometer strip and laid it across Eliot's forehead. When he finished, he set about changing out the saline bag on the IV. While he was doing that, Sully took out his stethoscope and listened to Eliot's chest. His breathing was better, so he removed the oxygen mask. When he did so, Eliot opened his eyes.

"Sully. Vance. What time is it?"

"It's oh five hundred. Good news, you're no longer in shock. We can operate any time."

"I'm ready. Vance, will you wake Parker and Hardison?" With a nod, he rose and left the room.

"Why make them watch all of this? Wouldn't you rather let them sleep?" Sully was filling a hypo.

"Whether I would or wouldn't is a moot point. I promised I would wake them when you were ready to operate and I keep my promises." Eliot noticed the hypo in Sully's hand. "What's that?"

"Antibiotics…you don't want to end up with sepsis or a staph infection." Eliot nodded his permission. Sully injected the medication into the secondary IV port, and at that moment, Vance walked back into the room, followed by Parker and Hardison. Parker was frowning and her eyes were squinty.

"Ready?" Sully asked.

"Just a minute," Eliot said, reaching out to Parker and taking her hand. "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine. I'm just still sleepy," she stifled a yawn.

Eliot appraised her carefully, and seemed to decide she was telling the truth.

"Okay. I'm ready." He settled back into as relaxed a posture as Eliot was ever in, and closed his eyes. Sully pulled out two or three packaged instruments, and pulled the flaps to open the first one. He withdrew a curved tweezer-like instrument, and without a word, stuck it into the hole in Eliot's leg. Eliot winced and grunted. Then he grabbed the bucket and retched into it. Parker's eyes narrowed, and she moved over next to Eliot's cot, stretching like a feral cat and smiling her crazy smile. She dropped to her knees next to Eliot, and took Eliot's uninjured hand in hers.

"Why are you trying to hurt Sparky?" she asked, eyes wide. "Haven't you ever heard of local anaesthesia, Doctor Sullivan?" she asked, and her crazy smile widened and got crazier. She took a swing at him, but Eliot reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Eliot placed a hand on her shoulder. "Parker, it's okay. We'll talk about it later. Sit back down over there, and let Sully do what he has to do."

"No, it—it isn't fair. You did so much good today, and now you're being hurt."

Eliot spoke softly to her, like he might if he were speaking to a horse. "Go on outside with Hardison, and wait. I'll ask Vance to let you know when the surgery is finished. "He glanced at Hardison, and barely loudly enough to hear, he said, "Get her out of here."

Eliot and Hardison exchanged glances, and the look that passed between them was clear. They knew Parker well enough to know that she was going to kick Sully's ass if they didn't get her out of the room, and since Eliot couldn't, Hardison would have to do so. Placing an arm around her shoulder, and pulling her in toward him, Hardison said, "Come on out here with me. Getting yourself all worked up over nothing." As he was saying these words, he led her out the door, and out into the living room. He turned on the television, knowing it was going to be all he could do to keep Parker out of the room in which Sully was operating on Eliot.

When they had gone, Eliot looked at Sully and growled, "Get it done."

Sully took what looked like a pair of pliers and dug the bullet out of Eliot's leg, then sewed up the hole. Walking was going to be a bitch for a few days, but he'd manage. When he finished, he wrapped gauze around it neatly. He then picked up the hypo filled with morphine, which he had put aside earlier, and injected it in the IV port before Eliot had a chance to protest. Eliot glared at him, and he said, "You need rest. I'll check in on you this evening.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

Parker and Hardison got out to the living room, and the door to the treatment room had barely closed behind them, when Parker rounded on Hardison and said, "What the hell was that?"

Hardison swallowed hard, and sounded like he was tripping over his words when he aasked, "What?"

"That condescending tone when you were walking me out here, and the words you used—'getting all worked up over nothing'? Am I? That man was hurting Eliot, and I couldn't watch it without saying something. Instead of understanding that and supporting it, you decided to make fun of it. Seriously?"

"No. Parker that's not what I meant—I—you can't just go around hitting people who are trying to help us."

"Yeah, well somebody needed to do something." Her face had turned bright red as she blushed to the roots of her hair. "You know what? Forget it. I don't expect you to understand." She turned away from him and ran into the bedroom they had shared the night before, quietly closing the door and locking it behind her. She then went to the door that opened into the bathroom this bedroom shared with a third bedroom in the house, and locked that door as well.

Hardison's knees gave out underneath him, and he sank down on the sofa, trying not to cry. Fifteen minutes later, Sully stalked past him to the front door, opened it, and closed it firmly behind him. Ten minutes after that, Vance came out and sat next to Hardison on the sofa, watching him carefully and not saying a word.

"How's Eliot?" Hardison finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Sleeping. Sully gave him some morphine."

"Eliot allowed that?"

"If he hadn't allowed Sully to do it, I would've done it. He needs to rest, to start the healing process." Vance looked around, as if looking for something, and then said, "Where's Parker? Eliot has a message for both of you."

Hardison glanced at the door to the bedroom they were using, and didn't answer. Vance rose and walked over to the door, and knocked. There was no answer. "Parker?" he called. "It's Vance. Eliot asked me to give you and Hardison a message from him. Will you come out and talk to me, please?"

He listened hard, but didn't hear a sound inside the room. He had turned around and started back toward the sofa and Hardison, when the door opened with a click, and Parker came out. Her eyes were red, and her face showed evidence that she had cried, but she didn't mention it. She simply came out of the room, and sat down on one of the other chairs in the living area of Vance's safe house.

"Eliot asked me to tell you that you are welcome to come back in and sit with him." He saw Parker look toward the room Eliot was in and thought she might get up any moment and move that direction. He hastily continued. "He's sleeping right now, and you probably won't be able to wake him up. He wanted me to be sure to say that to you, in case Parker decided to try. He didn't want her to panic if she couldn't wake him." He thought for a moment, and then leaned in conspiratorially, and said, "He always sleeps harder than he likes when he's had morphine. That's why he generally refuses it." Vance gazed at Parker for a moment, as if trying to take the measure of the young woman before him. He made a quick decision and said, "He wants you to know that he isn't angry about what happened in there, but he wants to talk to you about it when he wakes up. He said there are some things he wants you to understand about why he stopped you, and he doesn't want you to be angry with him either."

"I'm not," Parker said, very softly.

"Good. Now, if you two will excuse me, I need to check in with my team and be sure all the loose ends are being tied up properly, so I'm going to work for a little while. There's food in the kitchen if you get hungry before I get back. Otherwise, I'll bring something back when I come. Eliot doesn't want either of you leaving the house until he is able to go with you."

"Thank you, Colonel. We'll be fine." Parker spoke quietly, not quite looking at either of them. With one final look back at them, Vance made his way to the door and left. Parker took Hardison's hand and led him back toward Eliot's room.

(0o0)

Sully was seated in his office, filling out paperwork for a number of cases he had treated lately, when his office phone rang. He looked at the display on the front of the phone, but there was no number. Placing the phone to his ear, he said, "Hello."

"Doctor Sullivan?"

"Yes?"

"It's Kitty. Just checking in."

"Are you still in England?"

"Yes. I'll be flying in next week for a conference and meetings, and to make sure that everything is running smoothly in my absence. Report."

Sully took a deep breath, wondering if he was hearing from Doc because Vance or Eliot had called her or if it was just coincidence. "Mostly routine medical issues among the staff and a few minor injuries among the teams we care for."

"I don't consider multiple gunshot wounds a minor injury, and I find it disturbing that you do. I'm also a bit disappointed that you wouldn't mention it to me, especially since it involves one of the men on my own team. Makes me think maybe someone else should be in charge while I'm away."

"I apologize. I guess I should have called you when I found out Eliot was injured." His voice cracked, and she could tell that he was worried about what she was going to say to him. Worried and insecure.

"Yes, you should have, but not for the reasons you think." He could hear the smile in her voice on the other end of the line.

"What do you mean?" he asked, curious.

"Eliot and Vance don't make very good patients, and they are a handful on a good day. That's part of what comes with being elite. I could've given you some advice on how to handle them, if you had called me. That said, I don't appreciate hearing about it from someone else."

"So Eliot called you then?"

"No. I have a number of people who keep me informed of what is happening while I am away. That's what allows me to do my job in two different countries. Eliot has many friends among the teams we treat. We all do. Talk to me about your treatment."

"I've cleaned and sewn up both of the gunshots, I have him on an antibiotic regimen to fight infection and I gave him some morphine to help him rest. Vance started an IV and gave them all a dose of flu vaccine. I plan to check in with them tonight."

"Wait, Eliot allowed you to give him morphine?"

"I didn't give him much choice. He needed to rest."

"I'm sure that made him happy."

"No, but then, not much of what I've done has made him happy."

"He'll survive. What have you done?"

"Well, I didn't want the two civilians with Eliot to watch me patch him up. Gunshots can be messy, bloody affairs."

"Those aren't normal civilians. Eliot doesn't usually want them to watch, but maybe he knew they needed to be close. Life threatening situations can make people cling to one another in ways nothing else can."

"I should have known you'd take his side. You've served with him longer."

"I'm not taking sides. You had every right to kick them out, but you need to understand that our profession is largely about what makes our patients feel comfortable. If Eliot was all right with them staying, I would have been also."

"Really?"

"Yes. Does that surprise you? I have nothing to prove to anyone, and nothing to hide."

"The blonde tried to punch me."

"Parker took a shot at you, huh? Why?"

"I guess she felt like I was hurting Eliot."

"Were you?"

"I had no choice. His record says he's allergic to local anaesthesia, and I couldn't give him a general because of shock."

"He wouldn't have let you, anyway. He isn't allergic to all locals—just the most common ones. You're lucky Parker didn't make contact. She may be small, but I'm sure she could do some damage, especially if she's been training with Eliot, and if I know him, she has been."

He heard the amusement in her voice, and it made him mad. "Damn it. It's not funny. The girl's crazy. The only reason she didn't hit me is because Eliot stopped her."

Her voice was serious when she spoke again. "Well, that says something right there. Eliot doesn't talk much, but the fact that he wouldn't let Parker hit you speaks volumes about what he thinks. He was being fair to you, though you'll be hard pressed to get him to admit it. And I'm not laughing at you. Parker is one of a kind—one in a million, and she's very protective of Eliot. He's like an older brother to her. Understanding that relationship might make it easier for you to treat him. It'll definitely make it easier for him to let you. Now tell me why Vance got angry. That's not like him, especially when he's asking for a favor."

"This was a favor?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the whole mission wasn't exactly officially sanctioned, which means we could face disciplinary action, if they were to get caught, so yes, this was a favor. What was it that made him angry exactly?"

"One of the things I do for my patients is ask questions. Usually, it makes them relax some, and open up to me. It seemed to have the opposite effect on Eliot."

"Have you thought about why that is?"

"I've tried."

"Your job is to interrogate prisoners as you treat them—to get them to trust you to a degree at least, so they'll open up. When people do open up, they say more than they mean to say. For normal soldiers on your own side, who aren't being interrogated, the questions translate to concern, and there's no harm done. Eliot has been in your position, but he's also been on the other side of that, in other countries. The questions that make your other patients drop their guard make him raise his."

"Why didn't he say something?" Sully asked, as understanding dawned.

"He wouldn't. That's not Eliot, and he's been trained far too well for that, too. Something of that nature is a weakness to a man in his position, and his training has taught him to treat it as such. Anything he chooses to tell can be used against him. He wouldn't say anything, but it would have made him tense, which would make the treatment harder. Vance probably noticed that, and would have expected you to notice it also. That's why he was angry, and that's something I'll want to talk more about with you when I see you."

He swallowed hard, and she couldn't help but hear the catch in his voice when he spoke again, "I guess I really screwed up again, didn't I? I'm sorry."

"Relax. I'm not keeping count. I have some resources that can help you learn how to recognize the signs of anxiety in your patients on the physiological level, so you will be able to tell when they start to become agitated, and you can alter your approach. You're a good doctor. Part of being a great one is respecting your patients, and their ability to advocate for themselves and their own care. That means, respecting their right to refuse medications or treatments as well."

"I guess I owe Eliot an apology. I'm not sure what to say to him."

"That's the funny thing about Eliot. He has the ability to hold a grudge, but he doesn't do it often. When you go back tonight, find an opportunity to speak to both of them privately. Tell them what you learned from our conversation, then apologize to each of them and offer your hand to shake. Above all, be honest with them, and ready to acknowledge that their feelings are valid. I think you might be surprised to hear what they have to say." She paused for a moment to let that sink in. Then she asked, "Do you feel better?"

"Yes," he said, surprised to find that it was true.


	7. Chapter 7

Parker and Hardison sat next to Eliot's bed, watching Eliot sleep. It was after noon, and they had been sitting there for the past six hours or so, occasionally talking to Eliot, as the morphine worked its way out of his system. Hardison looked at Parker, who was looking everywhere but at him. She had a headache, and really didn't want to get into another argument with him.

"Parker," he said, glancing at her. "I'm sorry about what I said before. I wasn't trying to be condescending."

"What did you mean when you said I was getting all worked up over nothing, then?"

"I just meant that Eliot knows what he can handle. If he wasn't bothered by what Sully was doing, maybe you shouldn't be bothered by it either."

"Maybe." Parker fell silent. She didn't want to talk about this anymore. Their conversation was reminding her how different she was from everyone else, and when she was among those she considered family, she didn't like having the fact that she was so different emphasized. It was embarrassing. It felt like those she cared the most about were laughing at her, and that made her feel icky. She wasn't exactly staring off into space, but she couldn't exactly bring herself to look at either of the men in the room with her. A moment later, she heard her name, and looked down to see Eliot's large hand engulfing hers. He winked at her, and made a very low 'shh' sound with his lips.

"Parker, are you hungry?"

"Starving."

"Hardison, go into the kitchen and see if there's some cereal for Parker. And would you bring me back some water?"

Hardison rose and left the room, grumbling about being treated like a servant, and when he was gone, Eliot tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, and said, "Are you okay, Parker? You look sad."

"Hardison and I fought. When he walked me out, he said I was getting all worked up for nothing, and it made me feel off."

"What do you mean, off?"

"I feel like I never know the right thing to do, and it felt like he was making fun of me for not doing the right thing."

"Parker, you were just showing that you care about me, and you didn't want anybody to hurt me. That doesn't make you bad or off or anything else. It makes you human. There's nothing wrong with showing you care about a friend."

"No. I guess not."

"Listen, Parker, I think part of this was my fault. I asked Hardison to escort you out because you were so upset. I'm sorry if it made you feel bad."

"Not really. I just wanted to protect you."

"I know, but Sully had a job to do, and he wasn't required to be here. More than that, what was happening wasn't his fault."

"He was hurting you."

"He was doing what he had to do."

"Why couldn't he give you something for pain?"

"He tried to give me some morphine, but I wouldn't allow it. I hate what it does to me. It puts off my reaction time. Makes me slow."

"There are other things he could have given you."

"I'm allergic to most anesthetics, Parker. Sully knows that."

"I just hated seeing you hurt."

"I know, but Sully took care of the important part. He sewed up the wound and bandaged it. The rest is just pain. I can take the punishment. That's what I do." He smiled at her, and she smiled back. He reached up to brush her face with his hand, and then turned it over and put his palm against her skin.

Hardison came back in just about the time that Eliot said, "Parker, how are you feeling?"

"My head hurts, and my throat's a little scratchy, but otherwise I'm fine."

"You're burning up. Come on over here and lie down." Eliot painfully worked himself into a sitting position and moved so that his back was against the wall. "Hardison, bring me the first aid kit."

Eliot saw the abject terror in Hardison's eyes as he moved off into the restroom and opened the cabinet, retrieving the first aid kit and bringing it back into the treatment room. When Hardison deposited the first aid kit on the bed, Eliot sent him back to the bathroom for water. Eliot immediately took the first aid kit and rummaged around in it until he found a thermometer. He opened the case it was in, removed it, shook it down, and held it out to Parker, who took it and placed it under her tongue. She wasn't lying on the cot, but at least she came over and sat down when he called her.

While she was sitting there, waiting for the thermometer to register a temperature, Eliot took her hand, and put two fingers on the veins in her wrist, taking her pulse. It was racing, but he wasn't sure if that was because she was slightly panicked at the thought she might have the flu or if it was because she actually did have the flu. Looking her in the eyes, he said, "Parker, I need a blood sample."

"Uh-uh."

"There's no choice. We have to know. And I don't feel like arguing with you about it, so I'm not asking," Eliot said, with a bit of a growl in his voice.

Parker had allowed them to give her the flu vaccine, knowing it was important, but now she wondered if that had been a mistake, and as much as she trusted both of the men in the room with her, she didn't like being poked and prodded, and so, she didn't want to cooperate. She knew it was likely that she would have to, before it was over, but the streak of independence that was so much a part of her personality wouldn't allow her to give in easily. She tried to get up and walk away, but he grasped her wrist, and pulled her back down to where she was seated right next to him, with her arm pinned underneath his own. She expected him to stick her then and there, but he surprised her by reaching up and taking the thermometer from her mouth. Turning it over so that he could read it, he realized the writing was much smaller than he remembered it being from the last time he had done this. He squinted at it and could just make out the numbers.  _100.6._ It wasn't too high yet, which was good, he supposed. If they put her to bed, maybe it wouldn't go any higher.

"Parker, you can either let me take a blood sample now or Doctor Sullivan can do it when he checks in tonight. One way or the other, it has to be done."

She frowned. Eliot was playing dirty. He knew she wouldn't want anyone else to do it, and she knew that he could make her allow Sully to do it tonight. She decided it was best to play this particular game his way, but that didn't mean she had to like it, though she hadn't forgotten he was injured, so she probably wouldn't fight him too hard.

"Fine," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. Ignoring her, he gently pushed up her sleeve and prepared his materials. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the needle, but when he slid it into the vein in the crook of her elbow, she barely felt it at all. When Eliot had done everything he could do, he laid her down on the cot beside his, and put a cold compress on her forehead to try to get her fever down. She started shivering, so he covered her with a light blanket, wanting to allow her to sweat the fever out, but knowing it was possible for a heavy blanket to raise her body temperature too much. He fished the bottle of ibuprofen out of the first aid kit, shook two of them into his hand, and gave them to her to swallow. He could only hope that the vaccine Vance had given them would make her case of the flu lighter than normal, and it wouldn't become life threatening. After a time, her eyes slipped closed, and she seemed to be sleeping, though it was hard to tell.

None of them felt like speaking, but Hardison sank down onto Eliot's cot next to his friends, and Eliot reached out and squeezed his shoulder gently.


	8. Chapter 8

Vance and Sully pulled up to Vance's safe house at the same time. As Vance started walking toward the house, Sully caught up to him and put a hand on his arm. Vance stopped and turned toward him.

"I wanted to talk to you for a moment before we go inside with the others."

"All right. Why?"

"I spoke to Kitty. She explained some things to me that I hadn't understood before. Things about you and Eliot. And the mission. I owe you both an apology."

"Sully, I didn't call her."

"I know. She called to check in. I'm glad she did. She was able to explain why the things I was doing were having the opposite effect on Eliot than they usually have on my other patients." He saw the way Vance was looking at him. "I wasn't all that familiar with his history."

"It's your job to be familiar with all of your patients."

"I agree. But since Doc normally cares for you and for Eliot, and this was an emergency situation, I just didn't have a chance to do all of the research I needed to do before I came. Won't happen again. Doc wants us to talk about it when she's back in town next week. She said she had some resources that can help."

"Good. That answers my next question—what you were planning to do to solve the problem."

Vance looked up as the front door opened. Hardison stepped outside.

"Eliot wanted me to let you know that Parker has the flu." When he said that, the two men hurried inside. Eliot had moved to one of the chairs that sat next to the cots, never taking his eyes off Parker and changing the compress on her forehead regularly. Sully walked up to him and pinched the back of his hand. He was concerned at the way the skin remained standing.

"You need to go back to bed and get some rest, and I need to start another IV. You're dehydrated."

"Let Vance vaccinate you against the flu, and then I'll gladly let you take over." Vance opened the small refrigerator and withdrew the vial of flu vaccine he had brought with him the day before. It worked best at room temperature, but there was no time to warm it up. Drawing a dose into a syringe, Vance rolled it back and forth between his palms to warm it up as much as possible. A moment later, he injected Sully with it, and then immediately began to draw three other doses into three new syringes, and set them, one by one, on the table in front of him.

"There's some research that suggests that multiple doses of the vaccine, over a period of days, is more effective than just one dose, so I have a second dose for everyone."

"Vance, why don't you start Eliot's IV, and I'll give everyone a shot?" Vance nodded, handing Sully the three hypos, and motioning Eliot to lie back down. Eliot's body screamed in protest as he stretched it out again, moving muscles that hadn't been moved for several hours and had therefore grown stiff.

Vance started the IV, and was pleased to find that he got perfect flashback the first time, as usual. Sully stopped next to Hardison's chair, and he swallowed hard, tucking his arms behind him and ducking his head. "Close your eyes." Hardison did so, but he resisted when Sully tried to bring his arm out from behind his back. Watching him, Eliot spoke up.

"There are plenty of other places he could stick you, Hardison. All of them are more painful than your arm, so cooperate with him." With a sigh, Hardison gave in. Sully vaccinated him and then moved to Eliot. When he finished with Eliot, he moved on to Vance.

Sully set about testing the blood Eliot had drawn from Parker earlier that day, and confirmed that she did, indeed, have the flu. He changed the compress on her forehead. Vance moved over to sit next to Hardison for a moment, and Sully spoke very softly.

"Eliot, I need a blood sample from you and your friend, and I'd like to speak to you privately."

"I need something to eat. Walk me to the kitchen, and we'll talk there."

"All right."

Eliot slid to the edge of his cot, and rose somewhat painfully. He half hopped, half hobbled to the door. Hardison raised his head when he saw Eliot on the move, and said, "Eliot?"

"I'll be right back. Stay here with Parker and Vance." When Eliot limped out of the room, Vance looked at Hardison and said, "Since Parker has the flu, Sully's going to need a blood sample from both of you." He saw the look on Hardison's face, and said, "It has to be done."

"I know."

"A piece of advice—If Eliot is up to it, you might ask him to do it for you. He's had training as a field medic and he's very good. If I recall, he's done it for you before."

Hardison nodded. "He has. I'll ask him. Thank you."

(0o0)

Eliot's leg was ready to give out on him by the time he reached the kitchen. He sank down into one of the chairs at the dining room table, planning to rest for a moment before he found something to eat. Sully walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer and a bottle of water. He opened the beer and plunked it down on the table in front of Eliot, and then set the bottle of water next to it. "What do you want to eat?"

"Doesn't matter. Something small. I don't plan to be up for long."

Sully pulled a tray of cold cuts out of the refrigerator, and placed them, along with two small, fresh baked buns, on the table in front of Eliot. He didn't touch the bread, but he did eat some of the meat, cheese, and vegetables. Opening another beer, Sully pulled out a chair and sat down directly across from Eliot. Eliot could tell he wanted to say something, but he was having a hard time with it.

"Sully, you said you wanted to talk to me. So talk."

"I spoke to Doc." Eliot closed his eyes for a moment, wincing inwardly in sympathy, and then opened them again. He knew the kind of dressing down Doc could give when she took a mind to do so. Sully didn't seem to notice. "She enlightened me about a few things I didn't know about you and your history. Nothing not readily available as part of your record," he said quickly, seeing the way the other man was looking at him. "She made me realize the effect the questions I was asking might be having on you, and why. I wanted to apologize. I should've noticed the effect. I'm not sure why I didn't."

Eliot dismissed the apology with a small wave. "It was a stressful situation for all of us. Kat is extremely good at what she does. She taught me to read people's body language in the field, and to use that information to help them relax and make treatment easier. I would bet she'll do the same for you, if you ask her."

Sully nodded, then another thought occurred to him, and he asked, "You trained with Doc?"

Eliot nodded once. "As a field medic. You might say we learned from each other. I was her first student. That sprang from necessity. She couldn't be in two places at once—not all the time, anyway. So she trained me to be in the field when she was at the base camp, and vice versa."

"That's what you meant when you said you could sew up your own injuries."

Eliot nodded, appraising the man before him. "The field medic training is part of my file."

"I saw that. I just didn't realize she trained you."

With a small grunt, Eliot pushed his chair back and using the table for support, rose and picking up the tray, hobbled over to the refrigerator and put it away. Sully disposed of their empty beer bottles while he was doing that, and then he picked up the water bottle and took up a place behind and slightly beside Eliot, ready to catch him if he fell while making his way back to the treatment room.


	9. Chapter 9

Eliot made his way back inside, and seated himself on his cot in the treatment room. Reaching out, he stroked Parker's hair, and then changed the compress on her forehead. When that was finished, Eliot looked at Sully and said, "You said you needed a blood sample."

"Yes. I need one from everybody. We've all been exposed." He sat down in the chair next to Eliot. Swallowing hard, Hardison spoke up, "Eliot, do you feel like doing it for me?"

"Hardison."

"Please?"

Eliot looked at Sully, who nodded and said, "I'm told you're one of the best, and I still have to examine you and change your bandages, in addition to taking care of Parker. If you're up to it, you can do all of them, as far as I'm concerned."

Eliot really wanted to lie down. Both leg and shoulder were throbbing, and his vision was blurring a bit, but he knew this had to happen, and it would be easier for Hardison if he went ahead and did it.

"All right, but you all are coming to me. Hardison?"

Hardison sat down beside him, facing Parker, and Eliot stretched his friend's arm out across his lap.

"Eliot," Vance said, as Eliot prepared his materials, "what are you planning to do about Riley?" Eliot was quiet for a moment, thinking.

Then he said, "I've been thinking about that. We don't know that he's a threat. He's definitely afraid of me because he knows I can kill him, and what he knows of my past tells him I would do it, and not think twice about it. What I know of him tells me that he won't make a move unless he is being paid for it. It probably wouldn't hurt to have someone watch him for a while." Vance nodded to show that he understood.

While he had been speaking, Eliot had drawn a blood sample from Hardison without the younger man even noticing, and as he finished, Vance sat down on his other side. When Eliot finished with Hardison, he moved on to Vance and then to Sully. When he was finished with the rest of them, he looked at Sully and said, "Now it's my turn."

Smiling, Sully said, "Before I do, I want to take a look at my handiwork, and see how your wounds are healing." He unbuttoned Eliot's shirt, and helped him take his arm out of the sleeve. Cutting off the bandage, he cleaned the wound and re-wrapped it. When he was finished, Eliot stood up and unfastened his pants, lowering them to his knees, and cutting the bandage off of his leg. Sully looked at it, while Eliot poked around the outside of the stitches.

"What're you doing, man?" Hardison asked, looking a bit revolted to see Eliot poking at what used to be a hole in his leg.

"It doesn't seem to be infected."

"No, but I can't promise it won't be if you keep poking at it," Sully said, biting back a smile. Sully poured peroxide over the wound, and Eliot watched with fascination as it bubbled up. Sully wiped it off with a soft cloth, and then wrapped it with a new roll of gauze. When he finished, Eliot pulled his pants back up and fastened them.

Sully said, "It's nearly bedtime. We're here to stand watch. Let me give you some morphine to help you sleep."

He shook his head. "It always hits me harder than it should."

"Suit yourself."

Turning away from Eliot, he placed a temperature strip across Parker's forehead. He was shocked to see how much her temperature had risen, and was a bit surprised she was still conscious. He tucked another blanket around her.

"What is it?" Eliot asked.

"Her fever has spiked. We've got to get her cooled off. Vance, I'm going to need your help."

Vance rose and started to move over next to Sully. Eliot reached out and grasped his arm. "No. Hardison?" Hardison rose when Eliot called him and moved closer. "Sully needs to get Parker into a cool bath to bring her fever down. If she happens to wake up while she's in there, she won't handle waking up in a room with two men she doesn't really know well. She'll do better if one of us is in there with her." Vance disappeared into the other room, while Hardison and Sully laid a blanket on the cot next to hers. As they lifted her by the feet and shoulders to transfer her over onto the blanket, she stirred, not quite conscious, and then leaned forward and emptied the contents of her stomach all down the front of Sully's shirt. Eliot handed him a towel, which he used to wipe the worst of it off, and then raised his shirt over his head, removing it. When he was finished, he motioned to Hardison, who grasped her feet, and Sully carried her by the shoulders into the bathroom. They laid her in the bathtub, and then Vance came back in, carrying a cooler full of ice, and dumped it around her. Looking up, Vance saw the worry and misery on Hardison's face and sat down next to him, nudging his shoulder as he did so.

When Hardison looked up, and their eyes met, Vance spoke quietly. "She's going to be all right. She's strong, and she's in good hands." Hardison nodded, but didn't trust himself to speak. Vance put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. Let's go wait with Eliot."

"No. I can't. She needs me here when she wakes up."

"You'll be right outside. Come on." Vance steered the young man back out to the treatment room where Eliot was waiting.

 


	10. Chapter 10

Vance and Eliot exchanged a glance, and Eliot said, "She's going to be okay, Hardison. We've gotten her the best care available. Sully won't take chances with her, and neither will I."

"I know." The younger man sank down beside Eliot and Eliot squeezed his shoulder. Hardison put his face in his hands. He was worried about Parker, but he didn't want to let the other men in the room see him cry. Eliot noticed, but said nothing. Instead, he looked at Vance.

"Have you had experience with this before, Vance?"

He nodded, and said, "Only once."

Hardison broke in and said, "How did that case play out?"

Vance took the measure of the young man's question for a moment and then said, "If you really want me to answer that question for you, I can do so, but I'm not sure I should. Every case is different. You need to focus on her right now, and on taking care of yourself, and you need to think positively."

Eliot looked at Hardison and said, "When she wakes up, she's gonna need the man she loves to help her get through this. Parker's very strong, but she'll need your strength now. Can you give her that?"

"What if she doesn't make it?"

Eliot's hand shot out and grasped Hardison behind the neck, pulling him close and looking him in the eyes. "Don't do that to yourself. We can't afford to think that way."

"I can't help it. Don't you understand? I have to know—to be prepared—just in case. Worst case scenario?"

Eliot's eyes were serious when he spoke again, "You did the research there in the lab. You know the worst case scenario as well as I do."

Hardison ducked his head, struggling with the strength of the emotion he was feeling. He barely registered the sound of a door opening, or Sully's voice saying his name. Eliot nudged him when he didn't look up.

"Hardison?" Sully said again. He finally looked up. "Parker's awake. She's asking for both of you." He glanced at Eliot, who nodded, and pushed himself to his feet. When he had risen, he slapped Hardison on the chest with the back of one hand, and said, "Come on." With that, he turned and limped toward the room in which Parker waited. Sully held the door for him and followed him in. He hung back near the door while Eliot went over to the bathtub and seated himself on the side. Looking down into the small cocoon of blankets, he smiled and said, "Hi Darlin'. How're you feeling?"

"I'm freezing." Her teeth were chattering and her lips had a slightly blue tint to them.

"That would be because of the ice bath you are in, Sweetheart. Your fever spiked and we didn't have a choice. I'm afraid you'll have to stay in here until Sully determines you're out of danger."

Parker frowned, and her eyes grew wide. She crawled out of the blanket and rose up on her knees. Seeing what was happening, Eliot reached over and snatched the trash can that sat by the sink, and shoved it into the tub in front of Parker. He swept her hair out of her face when she leaned over and retched violently into the can. When she was finished, she crawled back into the blanket and sank back down in the bathtub, as though she had no energy.

Eliot swept her hair out of her face, and rested his hand next to her. A small hand snaked out of the blankets and found its way into his. He ran a rough thumb over the back of her hand, then brought another finger around and gently pinched the skin on the back of her hand. When it remained standing, he frowned.

"Sully," he said, speaking back over his shoulder. "She's dehydrated. We'll need to start her on some fluids when she comes out of here."

"Noted and logged. I'll set it up and send Hardison in so he can have a short visit."

When Sully opened the door to leave the room, Hardison was standing on the threshold, clearly trying to talk himself into coming inside. Sully stepped aside to allow him to pass, and slapped him gently on the shoulder as he did so. Winking at Parker, Eliot moved to the chair that sat next to the bathtub—the same chair he had used yesterday to cut the EMT's dressing off of his shoulder.  _Had it really only been 24 hours? It felt like an eternity since then._

Hardison took Eliot's place on the side of the bathtub. His mind was filled with fear as he looked down at Parker, who looked so small cocooned as she was in the blanket and surrounded by icy water. He sat there frozen for a moment, as though petrified, and then, with a mumbled "I'm sorry," he turned and almost ran from the room. Eliot shook his head. His heart broke when Parker said, "Why doesn't Hardison want to see me?"

"It isn't that, Darlin'"

"No? Then how would you explain his behavior."

"If I had to guess, I'd say he doesn't handle seeing you ill well. He's terrified of losing you, and that's more than he can bear, and seeing you like this scares him." He looked at her more closely, and saw the tears starting in her eyes. She didn't feel well, and this was the last thing she needed to be dealing with at the moment. He and Hardison were about to have a serious discussion—man to man. To her, he simply said, "I'll talk to Hardison. You focus on getting better. I would help carry you back to bed, but with my leg the way it is, that wouldn't end well. Vance and Sully will be back to get you in just a moment. Don't fight them, Parker. They just want to help you." She hated the thought of being carried by two strangers, but she sensed the gravity of the situation and nodded.

She watched as much of Eliot as she could until he disappeared somewhere over by the door. Eliot was careful to wait until the door closed behind him before he growled and bellowed, "Hardison, front and center." Swallowing hard, Hardison rose and walked over to where Eliot stood, more imposing than an injured man had any right to be.

Eliot had been like a brother to Hardison for the past five years, and though he liked to growl, had never really threatened any of the team with physical harm. So, Hardison wasn't exactly afraid of Eliot, but he had a healthy respect for the man's past, and stopped a bit short of arm's reach. Eliot knew exactly what Hardison was doing and why, and he might have smiled had he not been furious. Instead, he was rather relishing the intimidation factor at the moment.

"Hardison, there's a young woman in there who is very important to me, and she thinks the man she loves doesn't want to see her. Now what are you going to do about that?"

"I-I'm sorry. I just couldn't stand to see her like that."

"I'm gonna say this once. Fix it. If you don't, I will. And I can promise you won't like the way I fix it."

While they were talking, Vance and Sully slipped into the bathroom, and carried Parker back into the treatment room. When they had her situated on the cot, Sully motioned to Vance, who had an IV started before she even realized what had happened. With a final growl at Hardison, Eliot muttered, "When you come near her again, you'd better be ready to be all the way there for her." Turning his back, and not glancing back, Eliot moved over and took the hand without the IV in his, while Sully covered her with a blanket. Putting a hand on Hardison's shoulder, Vance steered him out of the room.

When they reached the hallway, Vance pulled the door closed behind them and looked appraisingly at the younger man. "Are you all right?"

"Oh sure, what could possibly be wrong? The woman I love doesn't think I love her, and a man who is like a brother to me wants to kill me."

Vance smiled. "If you think that, you've got a lot to learn about Eliot." Vance shot him a look he couldn't read, and said, "Listen, I've been on the other side of Eliot's wrath. He's very protective of those he cares about, even against others he also cares about, but he doesn't hold a grudge. He'll blow up, but that's it. After that, it's over. Stay out here and collect yourself. When you're ready, come on back in and join us. You'll see. In Eliot's eyes, it'll be like it never even happened."

"You think so?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out."


	11. Chapter 11

Hardison stood in Vance's living room, taking deep breaths and trying to force himself back under control. He was ashamed at himself for not being able to handle seeing Parker while she was sick, and worried about Eliot's reaction. As he finally got his breathing under control, he saw a flutter of movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking up, he saw a large man whom he didn't recognize in the front yard near the road. Watching him for a moment, Hardison slipped back into the treatment room and moved over next to Eliot.

Eliot looked like he wanted to say something, but Vance squeezed his shoulder and he growled and remained silent. Without thinking too much about what he was doing, Hardison took Parker's hand, and looked at Vance. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"No. Why?"

"I saw a strange man standing in the front yard."

"What?" Vance slipped quietly out of the room and down the hallway. He peered around the corner, and out of the picture window in the living room. The man was just visible in the opening from the curtains. Vance didn't know him, but he knew the type. He was somebody's henchman. Ducking back around the corner, Vance took out his phone and made a call. Speaking in a very low voice, he asked the men he had watching the place how they had let someone walk all the way up into the yard without noticing. He was assured that they were on top of the issue, and would be detaining the man for questioning momentarily.

When Vance walked back into the treatment room, Eliot speared him with an icy blue gaze, and asked, "Trouble?"

"I'm not sure yet. My men are on it. They'll detain him and find out what he's up to, and then we'll have an idea."

"In the meantime, I think we'd better all stay in here. Is the place secure?"

Vance shot Eliot a look that plainly asked if he was serious, but he knew Eliot had to ask. Vance nodded. Eliot nodded once in acknowledgment.

Sully looked from Hardison and Parker to Vance and Eliot and then back again, and made a quick decision. Slapping Eliot on the shoulder, he said, "Time for a walk. Vance can come too."

"Where?" We can't really leave the room."

"The hallway has no windows. We can walk up and down a few times." Glancing at Hardison and Parker, he leaned forward and whispered to Eliot, "You need to walk. They need to talk."

Eliot couldn't argue with that, so without another word, he said, "Parker, Hardison, we'll be back. Stay in here, and keep the blinds closed." He looked at Parker now. "I'm serious. Don't get curious." She nodded, and smiled weakly at him. He gently tweaked her hair, and then hoisted himself to his feet, and wobbled precariously for a moment until he got his balance, before hobbling over to the door. Vance and Sully followed him.

As he walked out the door, Hardison stared after him, not really wanting to be left alone. He wasn't looking forward to the discussion he would have to have with Parker. He looked back down at her to find her watching him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm scared. This is the sickest I've ever been. I need you, Alec, in the same way you needed me when you were in that coffin. I thought you didn't care about me anymore."

"No, babe. I-I love you. Don't ever doubt that. I'm sorry I wasn't here for you. I just hate to see you this way." Hardison's words degenerated into a barely coherent babbling, fueled by nerves and a genuine insecurity. Smiling slightly to herself, she patted his shoulder and closed her eyes.

(0o0)

Eliot walked up and down the hall, hating the feelings of helplessness that came with him having to be followed and supported. When they reached the door to the living room, they all stopped, and Vance peered around the doorway. The man in the yard was surrounded by his men. He looked back at the other two, and then slowly reached over and closed the door all but a crack. They turned around, and walked back the other direction. Eliot knew he'd be better tomorrow, but his leg was in danger of giving out on him now, as he hobbled into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he pulled out a bottle of water, and sank down into a chair at the table.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really."

"Well, then, let's get you back to bed."

"I'd rather sit up a while."

"We can arrange that as well, but not in here. "

"Yeah-yeah."

Eliot finished his water, and then rose and started moving back toward the treatment room where Parker and Hardison waited. He sat down in one of the chairs by Parker's bed, instead of on the cot where he had spent most of the past two days. He glanced at Hardison, who nodded to let him know all was well. Eliot nodded back.

At about that time, Vance's phone beeped. He picked it up and touched the screen, and then scrolled through until he found the contact he wanted. He read silently for a moment, and then said, "Eliot, how much do you know about this Riley character?"

"All I need to know. He acts as a middle-man for those who need certain things done. He's careful to keep his own hands clean, and most of what he does, he does for money. He's a coward. Why?"

"That man in the yard—my men ran his prints. They belong to a man named Marco. He's one of Riley's henchmen. He's not talking, but I think it's pretty obvious why he's here."

"Do we need to move?"

"I don't think so. We'll keep an eye on things, and if we do need to move, we can, but with my men watching the house 24/7, I think we'll be all right. I may have to find another safe house after this is over, though."

"You have at least two others that I know of, Vance." Vance flashed a smile. That was true.

Spearing his friend with an indecipherable glare, Vance asked, "How bad is this likely to get, Eliot?"

"Shouldn't be too bad, Vance. He's not overly creative in these things, and as I said, he's a coward. I can handle him."

Vance nodded.  _Good to know._


	12. Chapter 12

Eliot rose and began gathering the things he would need for his trip, shocked to see that they had become so spread out. He made a mental note to be more aware of where his things were in the future. Ordinarily, he would never let his phone or anything else he carried with him stray that far from where he was, but with his injuries and Parker's illness, he had allowed it to happen this time.

"Vance, I'm gonna need to borrow your keys."

"Absolutely not! You're in no shape to drive, Eliot," Sully said, gently.

"Yeah? Well, I don't see that we have much choice. This dude of Riley's found the safe house, didn't he? If he passes that knowledge along to certain 'clients', we could be in big trouble. I have to go convince him that's a bad choice."

"I can't clear you to drive. You can barely walk."

"Damn it, Sully. I'm not asking your permission." The two men started arguing back and forth, until Vance spoke up, in a tone that cut through and silenced the chatter.

"Eliot!" He smiled when the other man stopped and turned to look at him, spearing him with an intense gaze. "In this case, I agree with Sully. You have no business trying to drive. I have a better idea." Placing a hand on the other man's shoulder, Vance leaned in and began laying out his plan. After a moment, the three men sat back, and Sully said, "That's not a bad plan, Vance."

Vance replied, "Thank you. I have my moments."

Eliot studied Vance for a moment, trying to determine his motive. He trusted his friend, there was no question there, but Vance was a man who used things and people as he had to use them to achieve his ends, and he tended to turn into something of a mother hen when one of those people was hurt, if they let him. Eliot wanted to be sure this wasn't about Vance not wanting him to drive.

"Ya think it'll work?"

"It'll work, my brother. Have a little faith."

"In you? Always!"

Eliot allowed them to settle him back down on the cot next to Parker. He really wanted to sit up some more, but after the chaos of the past few minutes, he found much of his energy lacking. He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes, knowing that for this plan to work, he was going to need to be at the top of his game later. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he opened his eyes. Sully helped him sit up, and proceeded to examine him. When he was finished, he said, "Vance is loading the SUV in the garage. Let Hardison help you get out there. Vance and I will bring Parker out."

"Parker isn't going to want two strangers to carry her. Let Hardison help you and Vance can help me."

"Parker's unconscious again, so it really doesn't matter."

(0o0)

Marco wasn't happy about being surrounded. He raised his hands and held them in front of him to show them he wasn't armed. Riley had made it clear that he was to keep his presence a secret, as much as possible. The client didn't want Eliot to know that anyone was aware of his presence in DC. They hadn't known where he was staying, but Riley suspected the military man might lead them back to Eliot's hiding place. Riley hadn't thought he'd be heading back wherever he came from, injured like he'd heard he was. So, the upshot was that Marco was pretty sure he could talk his way out of the surrounding men, and he knew where the safe house was. A moment later, he looked up as the door opened. A very large man dressed in a suit filled the doorway, and at his nod, the men surrounding Marco took a step back and lowered their weapons.

"What's your business here?"

"I'm supposed to be meeting my real estate agent to look at a house in this neighborhood. I thought it was at this street address. I guess I have the wrong house. I'm sorry to disturb you." Vance nodded and his men parted in the middle to make a path for Marco to step through between them. Holding his wrist communicator up to his mouth, Vance spoke quietly, giving his men their orders. They watched Marco walk to the end of the street and climb into a car waiting there, before climbing into their own and following him at a respectable distance.

(0o0)

When they were gone, Vance stepped back into the house and made his way down the hall to the treatment room. They suddenly had a lot of work to do. Within fifteen minutes, they had set the room to rights, so that it looked like no one had been there in weeks, and they were loaded into Vance's SUV, heading for one of Vance's other safe houses in the Virginia countryside. Some of Vance's men followed in another vehicle, and some had stayed behind, and would be watching the first house they had stayed in until they were notified that the plan had worked, and then, they too would venture to the second safe house. That way, if the plan didn't work as laid out, they would be a backup system to tie up loose ends at the first safe house. Since his men were now split into three distinct groups, he called in some reinforcements of his own.

When they were safely on the road, with Hardison driving and Sully navigating, Eliot stretched out next to where Parker was resting in the hatch and leaning back against the back of the seats in front of him, he closed his eyes, knowing they had another hour in the car, and wanting to sleep. His shoulder and his leg throbbed dully, and he opened his eyes again, ten seconds later, knowing sleep was useless. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up, expecting to see Sully wanting to give him morphine or do something else medically necessary (in his own mind, at least), and so, was surprised to see Vance gazing at him with concern.

He moved to sit up, wondering if the man had news for him about Riley, and Vance put a hand out to stop him.

"Don't," he whispered, holding a Styrofoam cup out to his friend. "You need to rest. Drink this, it'll help."

Eliot sniffed it. It smelled spicy, with hints of mint and was definitely herbal.

"What is this?"

"Docs own special blend. Guaranteed to give the drinker a short, deep sleep, help them regain strength, and allow them to wake refreshed and ready to go. We've still got at least an hour's drive ahead of us. You might as well put that time to better use."

"It really works?"

"Do you think Doc would prescribe it if it didn't?" Eliot couldn't argue with that, so he put the cup to his lips and took a small sip, unsure how it would taste and unable to judge by the smell. He liked it, not that that part really mattered, but was a bit surprised at the warmth that spread through him each time he drank some of it. After he had finished about half the cup, his eyes slipped closed and his breathing evened out. Vance took the cup from him before he had the chance to drop it or spill it, placed a top on it, and put it in one of the back seat's cup holders.

(0o0)

Marco drove back to Riley's headquarters, trying to decide if the man in the suit had bought his story. Deciding he wasn't sure, he knew he had to tell Riley what had happened. They would have to inform the client, and wait for further instructions.

Riley was working on his ledger when Marco walked in. A look of annoyance flashed across Riley's face, but he schooled his features to neutral when he saw who was disturbing him.

"Did you find Spencer's hideout?"

Marco nodded.

"Well?"

"He's well protected. He has people watching the house."

"Were you seen?"

Marco nodded again. "It couldn't be helped. He got someone highly placed in the government working with him. There was no way to know that."

"Spencer's ex-military. He's probably still got friends, and that might have been who he was working for. Damn it. I should have foreseen this."

At that moment, they heard a loud commotion in the back, and then a very loud silence, and Riley sent Marco to investigate. Riley tried to go back to work, but he was curious, and finally had to admit to himself that he was waiting for Marco to come back so he could find out what was going on. Minutes ticked by, and Marco didn't show back up. When Riley realized he still hadn't come back, he looked up, to find himself staring down the barrel of a cocked pistol, and wondering how in the world the man holding it had been able to sneak up on him. He walked as quietly as Spencer did. Riley could never hear him either, now that he thought about it.

The young man standing in front of him smiled, and motioned him up out of his seat with his gun.

"Well, Mr. Riley, it seems we have an appointment. Move."

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Threats of torture.

Riley pressed the button that was installed next to his desk to call someone in from the back. The young man grinned when he saw what Riley was doing.

"There's no one left to help you. Now move." The young man's voice had hardened on this last part, and brooked no disagreement. He cocked the gun, and Riley rose, hands in the air. He moved past the young man with the gun, who followed him out the door, and steered him out to a waiting vehicle. Riley was a bit shocked to see all of his men bound and gagged and neatly laid out across the seats, mostly unconscious.

At that moment, the young man behind him slipped a hood over his head, and the truck started moving.

(0o0)

Eliot had been asleep almost an hour and a half when Vance's SUV pulled into the driveway of his second safe house and came to a stop beside another car. Eliot opened his eyes when the motion of the car stopped. Vance opened the hatch and unfolded himself. He immediately picked Parker up and started for the house with her. Eliot dislodged himself, and stretching mightily, followed them, while Hardison and Sully brought in the supplies they had packed to bring with them, and secured the vehicle. Vance walked Parker straight through the house and laid her out on one of the beds in the back bedroom. Eliot froze just inside the front door, staring at the two people seated on Vance's sofa, waiting for them. A second later, as he felt his leg about to give way underneath him, he shook himself and said,

"What are you two doing here?"

"Vance called me and asked for some help with Riley. So, we picked him up. He's waiting for you with some of Vance's men." Shelley gestured toward the other room, and saw Eliot looking at the woman sitting next to him. He continued. "I was injured slightly on my last mission, and regulations state I have to see a doctor before going back on full duty, so I made an appointment with Sully. I was sitting in his office, waiting for him, when I got the call. As I was leaving, I ran into Doc."

"I thought you were supposed to be in England."

"I was supposed to be flying back for meetings and a medical conference next week, but they were moved up, so I'm here early. Why don't I take a look at Parker while you and Vance talk to Mr. Riley? When you finish, I'd like to talk to the both of you. Come, Mister Shelley. Doctor Sullivan can complete your examination while I take care of Parker."

Shelley rose without a word and followed her into the bedroom in which Vance had just taken Parker. Vance came back out of the bedroom and stepped in front of Eliot, walking toward the spare bedroom where Riley and his henchmen waited.

"Well, Mr. Riley, so glad you could join us."

"It wasn't like I had a choice," he muttered, but not loudly enough for anyone to hear.

"What do you want, Riley?" Eliot asked, stepping around Vance. "Why did you send your thugs to spy on us?"

The man swallowed hard as Eliot got closer.  _Damn. The fact that Spencer was injured sure didn't make him any less imposing._ When Riley didn't answer, Eliot growled a bit and said, "I asked you a question, Riley, and I don't plan to ask again. As you know, there are plenty of other ways I can get the information I need."

Eliot could almost see the wheels turning in the man's mind, as he rapidly explored his options. He certainly couldn't tell Spencer about the client. Not if he wanted to maintain his reputation, and certainly not if he hoped to have any business afterwards.

Before Riley had a chance to answer, there was a knock on the door. Shelley stuck his head in, and said, "Your presence is requested in the other room."

"Shelley, tell Doc we'll be there in a moment, and ask her to prepare for interrogation protocol 3b."

"Should I ask her to prepare to lead the interrogation or do you plan to do it?"

"I'll do it."

"For how many people?"

"Five? Six?"

"Will do."

"Thank you."

He grasped the collar of Riley's shirt and said, "Last chance, Riley. You can talk or we can make you talk."

The little man folded in on himself.

"All right. A client contacted me anonymously, and offered us half a million to scout your position and report back. That's all I know, I swear."

"Not good enough. You seem to forget I know you, Riley. You wouldn't take a job without seeing the client, and the money, face to face. Now spill."

Riley stood frozen, considering his options. Patience running thin, Eliot growled, "Now!"

Riley remained silent, and Eliot tightened his grip on Riley's collar. All he said was, "suit yourself."

With Vance walking slightly behind him for support, Eliot turned and started back toward the door, on his way to the other bedroom, dragging Riley along behind him. Vane stepped around beside him when they reached the door of the other bedroom, and opened it, then moved aside to allow the two other men to pass through first.

Riley's eyes grew wide when Eliot shoved him, none too gently, down onto one of the beds in the second bedroom. He took in the equipment set up and the people ranged there, ready, willing, and able to assist Eliot, and he started to wonder if this job was worth it.

"Vance, please escort Hardison to the kitchen and be sure he eats something." Vance knew the man wasn't going to want to leave, but he also knew that Eliot didn't want him to see what was about to happen. Walking up beside the hacker, and placing a hand on his shoulder, Vance steered him out of the room and toward the kitchen.

Without a word, Eliot moved over toward Doc and brought an IV stand back with him. That was enough for Riley.

"All right." He held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Start at the beginning. If you leave anything out, I'll know."

"I wasn't lying when I said that the client approached me anonymously. This was on my desk when I arrived at work the day after you came to visit. I never saw the person who left it. I swear." He reached into an inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, folded into quarters, and handed it to Eliot.

Eliot unfolded it and read it silently. "I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do this without some amount of money coming in to finance it. How'd that go down?"

"It was wired to my account electronically, from an account with a bogus name, which my men were unable to trace."

"We'll see if my friend can trace it. How much?"

"I told you—half a million."

"So, it has to be someone fairly wealthy taking a run at me for some reason. That narrows it down somewhat."

Riley stared at the other man, who didn't seem to really be paying attention to him anymore, but wasn't showing any signs of turning him loose. Instead he seemed to be going over the whole situation in his head, while still holding Riley in an iron grip.

"That's all you know?" Eliot demanded.

"That's all. I swear," Riley said, somewhat desperately.

"How were you supposed to contact him to let him know the job was done?"

"I wasn't. The note said he'd be watching, and he'd know."

"All right. Riley, listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once. When we're done here, my friends will escort you back to town and drop you off somewhere near your office. As far as you are concerned, I'm dead. The truth WILL come out, after we're long gone and when it does, your client will be calling on you, wanting his or her money back and probably wanting to know why you didn't kill me. I suggest you have the money when the client calls. You arrange to meet them face to face and then you call me and let me know who the client is. Got it?"

"What if they find out? If I do that, they might kill me," said Riley, with a distinct whine in his voice.

"If you don't, I'll kill you. Remember Riley, I know where to find you, and I still have a lot of friends in DC. You try to sell me out, I'll know, and I'll teach you exactly why those three foreign presidents choppered out of the city when they learned I was back. I'll let you see firsthand exactly how I earned my reputation. Is that clear?"

Riley swallowed hard, and nodded to let the other man know he understood. Eliot exchanged glances with Shelley, and without a word, Shelley drew his firearm, and came over beside Eliot, taking a firm hold on Riley's collar, and shoving his gun into the man's back. Shelley replaced the blindfold over Riley's eyes, frog marched Riley to the door, and turned him over to Vance's men. At Vance's nod, he left to accompany Vance's men and supervise Riley's return, while Vance nudged Hardison and started back to the room where Eliot waited.


	14. Chapter 14

Vance escorted Hardison into the kitchen, sat the young man at the kitchen table, and pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, watching Hardison furtively as he did so.

"What would you like to eat?" he asked, handing the water to the hacker.

Twisting the top off of the bottle, Hardison took a long swallow of his drink. "Nothing," he said. "Anything. I don't care."

"You must be hungry, and we'll be in here for a while either way, so you might as well eat." He brought some fruit, along with the tray of cold cuts over to the table and sat down across from Hardison.

"What is Eliot going to do to Riley?"

Vance took the measure of the younger man's question for a moment, and then said, "Do you really want me to answer that question?"

Hardison thought for a moment.  _Did he want to know the answer to that question?_ He wasn't sure.

"I don't know," he said, turning away, but Vance could tell the thought disturbed him.

"Would you rather Eliot do nothing, while there's a probability that you all are in danger?"

"No," he said first. Then, "Yes." The power of his horror drove him up out of his chair and he paced over to the sink, embarrassed and refusing to look at the other man. "I don't know," he finally said.

Vance met him at the window and put his hand on Hardison's shoulder. Without a word, he steered him back into the living room and then let go, and seated himself on the sofa. Hardison sat down in the chair adjacent to him. Vance wanted to help the younger man through this—to help him understand somehow.

Before he had a chance to do so, the door to the bedroom opened, and Riley walked out, followed by Shelley, who had his gun in Riley's back. He nodded to Vance.

"I'll be back after I make sure Mr. Riley here gets where he is going safely."

"I'm sure Doc will be glad to hear that," Vance said, smiling. Vance spoke into a device he wore on his wrist. Shelley opened the front door, where they were immediately met by four of Vance's men. Shelley looked at Vance. He nodded. Shelley nodded back, but didn't lower his gun, and he accompanied the four men as they left with Riley. Vance smiled to himself. He might think Shelley overreacted sometimes, but he knew the man would make sure, for himself, that Riley was handled properly. That's how he'd trained every member of his team, and he could hardly be surprised or angry when they acted within their training.

He watched as the door closed behind Shelley, and then turned back to the other young man currently in his charge. Walking past Hardison, he nudged his shoulder, and started walking back toward the bedroom where Eliot and Parker waited.

When they arrived, Eliot was seated on one of the two beds in the room, and Parker slept on the other. Sully sat between them, while Doc was opening and closing doors and drawers to the cabinets in the room, putting away some medical equipment. When she finished, she sat down in the chair on the other side of Eliot's bed.

Eliot noticed the look on Hardison's face and on Vance's, and he knew something intense was going on, or had been, a moment ago.

"Vance? Hardison? Is everything all right?"

Vance gave a quick shake of his head, planning to talk to Hardison later about what they were discussing. When neither of them said anything, Doc changed the subject.

"Sully, I'd like a report on the condition of your patients."

Eliot spoke before Sully had a chance. "Before we do that, I believe I need to ask you and Sully for your help."

"What are you thinking, Eliot?"

Glancing at Hardison, he said, "Well, you heard Riley. Whoever wanted me dead is watching. We don't know how close. The only way to keep Riley alive is to make them think he killed me. We'll have to make it convincing, and we'll need to find a safer place to finish this process."

Hardison spoke up, "Why do you care about keeping Riley alive?"

"Because right now, we're the good guys, and the good guys don't kill people. And it's good for us if they think I'm dead, too. Means they won't come after us. Besides, if they kill him, we won't know who it was who wants me dead, and that's a bad situation for a number of reasons."

While he was talking to Hardison, Doc and Sully had their heads together, whispering between themselves and preparing materials. When he stopped talking, Sully held a stethoscope to his chest, and said, "Heartbeat's strong. Succinylcholine?"

"No," Eliot said.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Doc asked.

"Short of blowing the place up? No. Okay. Succinylcholine," Eliot agreed, but she could tell he wasn't happy about it.

"Mr. Hardison?" she said, looking at the young man. "Come over here, please."

Hardison moved over and stopped in front of Doc, next to Eliot's bed. "Take his hand."

Eliot looked annoyed and said, "That's not necessary."

"I'll say what's necessary." She looked at Hardison. "Succinylcholine is a mild paralytic. He'll be awake but unable to move and it's smart to have someone with him to help keep him calm until the effects wear off. Sully'll need to give him oxygen."

"Why Sully?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, I just wondered."

"I thought Parker might feel more comfortable with a doctor she knows. She should be close to waking up soon. In addition to the fluids she's receiving, I want to give her a cocktail of the strongest anti-virals we have, and some prescription Tylenol to bring down her fever. What can you tell me about her medical history?"

"Next to nothing. Only what I've learned over the last five years, while treating the team's injuries. In that time, she's had a couple of concussions and a knee injury."

"Is she allergic to any medications?"

"None that I'm aware of."

"Good enough. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's do this."

"Relax and Hold still. We'll see you on the other side." With that, Doc injected him with the succinylcholine. With no time to waste, Vance and Sully carried him out the front door, and put him in Vance's SUV. Sully climbed in beside him, motioning Hardison to climb in on the other side. When the doors closed behind them, Sully put an oxygen mask over his head, setting the tank beside Hardison, Vance and Doc then laid Parker out across the back seats, and Doc climbed in beside her. Vance closed the back driver's side door, and moved up to the driver's seat. He started driving.

Doc opened her medical kit, and took out a small flashlight, and a field copy of a medical reference guide. She started researching drugs and their interactions. Half an hour later, she heard movement in the hatch, and then she heard a gravelly groan.

"Shh. Don't take the oxygen mask off. We're not finished yet. Hold still." A moment later, the movement stopped and it was quiet again.

"Vance, where are you headed?

"Thinking Walter Reed."

"That's as good as any. Can you put the base on lockdown while we're there?"

"Already done. No one's allowed on or off without military credentials."

"Good."


	15. Chapter 15

Vance drove the SUV straight up to the guard station at Walter Reed, and flashed his badge to the guard at the window. Without looking Vance in the eye, the guard said, "This base is on lockdown, Colonel. No one on or off without valid military business, military credentials, and an escort. State your business here, sir."

"I'm here on a mission under Top Secret seals. It is a matter of life and death importance, and that's all I'm at liberty to say."

"Who authorized the mission, sir? With the base on lockdown, regulations require it be checked out."

"There's no time. Damn it. Let us in."

"I'm sorry, sir," the young guard said, swallowing hard. "Regulations." Vance had to admit, the boy had guts. After all, he wasn't accustomed to having to stand up to a man of Vance's rank or stature. Doc could tell that Vance was frustrated, and she laid a hand on his arm.

Reaching into an inside pocket of her field jacket, she withdrew her own badge, and handed it to Vance, who handed it on to the guard. His eyes grew wide, and he opened the gate without another word. As Vance drove through, he shook his head.

"I'll never get used to that."

"Sure you will," she said with a smile. "You just need to adjust your thinking a bit while you're here. Welcome to my domain, Colonel."

"Just on principle, you should discipline that guard," Vance said, thoughtfully, as he drove.

"For doing his job? He doesn't know you, and regulations do state that he has to check out any mission when a base in on lockdown. I train my personnel as well as you do. If we have to do this, I'd much rather have someone on guard duty who isn't afraid to say no, than someone who will go against regs and let anyone in. He just needed to understand that we were the reason for the lockdown. And a little more finesse wouldn't hurt him either. I'll talk to him about it, later. Too much to do just now. Drive around to the back. We'll take him in through the private staff entrance. If they've managed to follow us on to the base, they'll follow us around back, and we might as well not draw any more attention to ourselves or Eliot than necessary."

"Fair enough."

He drove around to the back of the hospital and stopped where Doc told him. Without even waiting for the car to come to a complete stop, she jumped out and jogged into the hospital, commandeering a gurney and some blankets. Running back outside, she helped Vance situate Eliot on the gurney, and sent Sully on into the hospital, wheeling the gurney inside and down to the morgue. Leaving Vance inside the car with Hardison and Parker for a moment, she went back inside the hospital, got another gurney, and wheeled it back outside. Scooping Parker up like she weighed nothing at all, Vance laid her out on the gurney, and strapped her down so she wouldn't fall off. Doc took charge of the stretcher and pushed it into the hospital, while Vance and Hardison parked the van. They would meet up with Doc and Parker in a few minutes.

"Shouldn't one of us stay with the ladies—for protection, I mean?" Hardison asked.

Vance laughed. "At least one of those 'ladies' could wipe the floor with all of us. They'll be fine for a few minutes."

Vance parked the SUV in Doc's usual spot, right near the staff entrance. Motioning for Hardison to follow, he locked the doors of the SUV and then strode toward the hospital doors, not bothering to hurry. As they walked toward the door, Vance looked around, being sure there was nobody nearby to overhear. He put a hand on Hardison's shoulder, and stopped the young man just short of the door.

"Before we go inside—you may hear some things you find a bit distressing. We'll need you to trust us, and follow our lead. Eliot's life may depend on it." Hardison nodded. Vance resumed the journey into the building. A moment later, they were standing next to Doc, while she went about the business of setting up an Iv for Parker. As she barked orders to the nurse assisting her, she didn't look up from the three syringes she was injecting into the secondary IV port.

Half a second later, she stripped off the surgical gloves she was wearing, turned them inside out together, and dropped them into the trash can.

"Nurse, I want someone with her at all times. Cold compresses on her forehead. Vitals every half hour. I'm posting two guards outside the door. No one in or out until I come back. Hardison, stay with Parker. She'll be happier if she wakes up to the sight of someone she knows."

"Yes, ma'am," the nurse said, while Hardison nodded.

Doc stalked out the door, and down the hall to the elevators, Vance in tow. They made quite a handsome pair—the two high ranking officers in dress uniforms—haunting the halls of the base hospital. Jabbing the 'down' button on the first bank of elevators in the hospital hallway, she and Vance stalked inside as soon as the doors opened, and stood quietly at parade rest, as the elevator carried them to their destination.

Doc had never liked the morgue. She had long ago reconciled that it was a necessary part of the job for a doctor, and especially a military doctor, but she still didn't like it. It had always represented the enemy to her—and the times when the enemy won. Sully had stripped Eliot when he first got Eliot to the morgue, had taken off the oxygen mask after a brief exam, and covered him with a blanket. Peeling the blanket back, Doc looked at the man for a moment, and couldn't be sure, but thought she saw the ghost of a smile play around his eyes and mouth. After a moment, she pulled the blanket back up over his head, and looked at Sully.

"Did you declare?"

"Yes."

"Time of death?"

"7:33 pm."

"All right. Have the death certificate on my desk by 9 am. I'll notify the family. Thank you, Doctor Sullivan."

He nodded, ducking his head. After another moment, she said, "We might as well get back to the patient we can save. Maybe. Put him in one of the drawers for the night. We'll start the autopsy tomorrow morning." With that, she stalked out of the room, and back down the hall toward the elevators. A moment later, Sully opened one of the drawers and pushed the gurney inside. Then he closed the door and made sure it was sealed before he left to join Doc.

Minutes later, they took the service elevator back down, and hid themselves in the shadows of the next room, where they could see Eliot's drawer through the plate glass window. They had been watching for close to ten minutes when the morgue door opened, and two shadowy figures slipped inside, dressed totally in black.

They moved to Eliot's drawer and opened it. A moment later, one of them said, "He's dead all right." The other one dialed a number, and put his phone to his ear. When the party on the other end picked up, he said, "Yeah. Riley's story is confirmed. All right. Yeah. Headed back now."

The two slipped out of the room, closing the door behind them. As soon as they were gone, Sully took off running toward the other room. Doc moved over to the wall, and picked up the phone there.

"This is Doctor Carrington. Two people dressed in black just left the morgue. Follow them. Coordinate with Colonel Vance and his team. Watch. Do not detain. Repeat, do not detain, except under explicit orders from myself or Vance. Notify me when they've left the base. Oh, and tell Lieutenant Westbrook at the gate that he has an appointment with me at zero seven hundred tomorrow. Thank you." She hung up and they took the service elevator back up to Parker's floor.

She nodded to the guards as she walked in. Doc briefly examined Parker, and then packed a small field kit with the medications they would need to treat her over the next few days. Speaking into her wrist communicator, she said, "Have Eliot ready to go. We'll leave as soon as I get notification our friends are off base."

Vance and Hardison loaded Parker and the kit Doc had packed ten minutes later. Five minutes after that, the call Doc was expecting came in. Their followers were gone. She waited another five minutes to be sure they were gone, and then had Vance pull the car around to the small alley next to the morgue. He disappeared inside, and a moment later, he and Sully came out carrying Eliot. As soon as the doors to the hatch closed, Sully put the oxygen back on Eliot, and now, all that remained was waiting for the succinylcholine to wear off.

They sped off a different way than they had come, and finally, Hardison asked, "Where are we going?"

Doc spoke up. "To my safe house. Vance's places are blown. We'll need to examine Eliot to make sure he hasn't suffered any ill effects from what we had to do tonight, and we need to give Parker a safe place to finish her recovery from the flu. If you all are still hoping to head back to Oregon tomorrow, we've got a ways to go tonight. Even then, there's no guarantee you won't need to stay another day or two."

"How's our paralyzed patient, Sully?" Vance asked.

They heard a low growl from somewhere in the back. "I'm fine, no thanks to the two of you."

"Well, I guess that answers that question."


	16. Chapter 16

They drove for another half hour or so, out through the countryside of Northern Virginia. Vance made sure to stay on the back roads, away from anyone who might follow them. Finally, they turned off on a dirt road, little more than a trail really, and after driving another two or three miles, they turned into a gated drive. Doc climbed out and opened the gate, then closed it behind them as the SUV drove through.

Vance automatically drove the car around to the back of the house, where it wouldn't be seen, and parked it in the open garage. Popping the hatch, Doc climbed out and helped Eliot sit up. "How are you feeling, Eliot?"

He glanced around at Hardison and said, "I'll make it."

"Can you walk?"

"I think so." He scooted himself to the very edge of the hatch, and tentatively put his feet on the ground. He stood up easily, but it took him a few seconds to find his balance. Doc slid in under one arm, subtly supporting him as he made his way to the door. Vance handed Hardison the IV bags and the kit they had packed for Parker, and then placed his hands under Parker's arms, and slid her mostly out of the hatch. Sully picked up her feet, and they carried her into the barn.

She was starting to stir as Vance and Sully laid her out in Doc's treatment room. Eliot was sitting in a chair next to the wall of cabinets on the other side of the room. When he saw Parker starting to stir, he rose, took off the oxygen mask he was wearing, and moved over next to her cot, sitting down in the chair there. Vance nudged Hardison, and he walked over and sat on the other side of Parker's cot. Seconds later, she opened her eyes. Her face lit up when she saw Hardison sitting there. Smiling, she reached for his hand.

"How long have I been out?" she asked, struggling to sit up. Eliot put out a hand to stop her, and said, "Don't sit up. You've been out for almost a day. Sully?"

"Eliot, come over here, please," Eliot rose and moved over to the chair he was sitting in before, where Doc waited for him, while Parker looked for a voice she hadn't heard in a long time. When he got there, she said, "Take off your shirt."

As he worked his arms out of his shirt sleeves, he heard Parker ask, "Is that Doc Carrington?" Sully nodded, speaking quietly to Parker.

Taking a small pair of scissors out of the first aid kit, Doc cut off the bandage on Eliot's shoulder, and inspected the stitches. With a finger, she gently poked around the stitches Sully had placed, and felt the heat radiating from the wound. As she put pressure on the stitches, angry red streaks spread out across the surrounding skin. Eliot gritted his teeth at the fire that shot through his shoulder wound, but stayed quiet. Without a word, Doc withdrew a syringe and filled it with a strong antibiotic.

"This will likely make you a bit sick to your stomach," she said, injecting it into the muscle of his lower arm. Setting the syringe aside, she said, "Let me see the leg wound, please."

He lowered his pants and then sat back down. She cut the bandage off of his leg and looked closely for signs of infection. There were one or two red streaks, but nothing anything like as bad as she saw on his shoulder. Gently probing the leg, she found that the wound had a hard edge to it, an edge that moved a bit when probed. She fished a razor blade out of her bag, and filled another syringe. "Eliot, I'm going to give you a local. I have to drain some infection , and probably re-stitch your leg. Then, judging by the way you're breathing, I suspect I'll be giving you a broncho-dilator and either breathing treatments with a nebulizer or a higher dosage of oxygen."

"You have a local to which he's not allergic?" Sully asked, a question coloring his voice.

"I make it a point to carry a local he can take in my medical kit." With that, she injected the local into Eliot's leg, and while she was waiting for it to take effect, she took out her stethoscope and listened to his heart and lungs. Opening the cabinet next to her, she took out a breathing machine and handed it to Eliot. He put the mask over his head as she flipped the switch to turn it on.

When that was finished, she took the scissors she had used before, and cut the stitches to open his leg wound. With a pair of tweezers, she gently pulled out each of the stitches, and then pressed gently on the floating lump next to his wound. Blood welled out of the wound, but it didn't bring the infection she had hoped with it.

She ran the razor blade down the hard edge of the lump, and Eliot felt a little pressure, but nothing else. When she put her thumb to the side of it, a white substance mixed with blood exploded out from the center. Wiping it off with a towel, she drained the rest of it, and then put pressure on it until the bleeding stopped. Afterwards, she inspected it to be sure she had gotten all of the infection out, and went about the business of re-bandaging both his leg and his shoulder.

"You'll need a couple of doses more of the antibiotics, just to make sure the infection is all gone, and I want you on the breathing machine for a while longer."

"Will we be able to leave tomorrow? I'll need to let the others know if we can't."

"I'm not making any promises, but that's the plan. Doctor Sullivan, how's our other patient?"

"She seems to be responding well to the anti-virals. I'm not sure she'll be ready to go by tomorrow, though."

"It's late. Both of you should eat if you are hungry, and then get some sleep. I have a meeting with a certain security guard at oh seven hundred tomorrow, and when I am finished, I'm coming back here and we'll see if you are able to go home by then."

(0o0)

At 07:00 the next morning, Doc Carrington sat at her desk in her office, catching up on some paperwork and waiting for Lieutenant Westbrook. When he still wasn't there five minutes later, she picked up the phone on her desk, and dialed a number. Three rings later, a deep voice answered.

"Captain Miller here."

"Captain Miller, this is Doctor Carrington. One of your men, Lieutenant Westbrook, had an appointment with me at 07:00 this morning, and he hasn't shown up." She waited a moment, listening, and then said, "Yes. Find him and escort him in here." She listened again. "Thank you. I'll be waiting." She hung up and went back to work.

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on her door.

"Enter."

The door opened, and Lieutenant Westbrook entered, accompanied by Captain Miller. Westbrook looked like he wanted to cry. Doc Carrington smiled at Captain Miller, and said, "Thank you, Captain."

Returning the smile, he ducked out of her office, closing the door softly behind him. Lieutenant Westbrook stood at attention, staring straight ahead, waiting and fearing what she would say to him. Without a word, she circled him, contemplating what she wanted to say to him.

"Lieutenant. You're late."

"Yes, ma'am." The man sounded as though he wanted to hyperventilate.

"Do you care to explain to me why you weren't here for our appointment this morning?"

To her surprise, he broke stance and looked down at the ground. Watching him closely, she saw that he was trembling slightly. She knew many of the younger officers, or those new to the base, found her intimidating and with good reason, but this was one of the more extreme reactions she had seen, bordering on ridiculous.

"At ease, Lieutenant." The man visibly relaxed, and very nearly sank to his knees. Hiding her amusement at his reaction, she said, "Be seated."

Relieved, he sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk. She perched on the edge of her desk, facing him.

"Mister Westbrook, I have some decisions to make in the next few minutes, and the conversation we have here in the next few minutes is going to help me make them."

"Wh-what decisions?"

"For one, the decision about whether I deal with this situation from the perspective of a military officer or that of a doctor, or both."

"What difference does that make?"

"As a military officer, I could turn you over to the MPs and be done with it. As a doctor, I'd prefer to understand what's happening with you before I decide what's to be done with you. I suggest you answer my questions."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Question number one: Why didn't you meet me for our appointment this morning?"

He shook his head, and didn't answer.

She studied him closely for another moment, before she said, "You're new to this base, aren't you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"What are you so afraid of?"

The story spilled out, even though he didn't mean for it to do so. "I'm in serious trouble."

"Why? For your behavior last night? You acted within regulations."

"No, because in the paperwork shuffle with the transfer, I missed my fitness test and my physical exam. I've never done that before, and I know how serious it can be. They just never called me to report, and then, by the time I remembered it, I was late, and I was worried that asking would cause even more problems."

"You're right. It is serious, but not as serious as compounding the issue by failing to show when you are summoned by a superior officer. By not telling us what was going on, you not only jeopardized your own health, but you were also selling us a bit short, too, don't you think? You didn't give us the chance to hear you and act accordingly. Instead, you made the assumption that we would punish you without hearing you out. That disappoints me."

"Yes, ma'am. I apologize."

She nodded, accepting the apology as a matter of course. He was young, but that wasn't a crime.

"Come with me, Mister Westbrook. We'll take care of that physical exam right now. I could do the fitness test as well, but since I'm here for a conference, my time right now is limited, so I believe I'll allow a friend to take care of that."

Lieutenant Westbrook breathed a sigh of relief. Could this really be all she planned to do? He had heard stories about her—knew her reputation, and was therefore a little bit intimidated by her.

He followed her into the elevator, and they rode down to the wing that held examination rooms and doctor's offices. She steered him into one of the exam rooms, handed him a gown, and sent him into a small anteroom to change while she pulled up his file and familiarized herself with it.

She had finished his exam forty five minutes later.

"You'll meet Lieutenant Commander Shelley on the field at 5pm for your fitness test. Don't be late, and don't even think about not showing. You do that again, and I'll throw the book at you."

"I won't. Thank you, ma'am."

"I think a week's worth of double shifts should be enough of a reminder, don't you Mister Westbrook?"

"Yes ma'am." He groaned inwardly, but stopped himself, knowing it could be worse.

 


	17. Chapter 17

It was almost oh nine hundred before Doc arrived back at her safe house. She knew Eliot was anxious to get back to Oregon, if for no other reason than to ensure the safety of his friends, and lend credence to the illusion they'd created the night before. He couldn't take a chance that those they were trying to fool might see him alive before they were able to get out of the city. But Doc had some ideas about that, too. Ideas, and a plan, if Eliot would accept it.

She drove around and parked next to the barn, and stalked into her treatment room. Sully had left for work a while ago, so she moved to check Parker first. The young blonde was starting to get some of her spunk back, which made Doc think they had turned the corner. She injected more anti-virals into Parker's Iv, which was met with a scowl by a Parker who had clearly hoped the Iv would be removed. Amused at the young woman's reaction, Doc smiled at her, and was only mildly surprised when Parker smiled back.

She moved to Eliot next. He didn't say a word while she examined him, but those piercing blue eyes never left hers. When she was finished, she rose to move to the counter and read the treatment notes Sully had left, but her progress was stopped by a rough, calloused hand, which encircled her wrist, with just enough force to get her attention. She looked at him.

“What's the verdict?”

“I don't see anything here that would keep you all from going back today, provided I have your word you'll take it easy for another day or two. And provided, of course, that you can keep Parker's Iv going and keep her on the anti-virals for another few days.”

“That shouldn't be a problem. If you'll remove the Iv while I get dressed, I'll start it again once we are back in my treatment room in our headquarters.”

“I have a better idea.” He stared at her, waiting. “When I agreed to head up the medical personnel exchange with our friends from across the pond, I requested and was provided use of a jet, both for my personal use to meet professional obligations in both countries, and for use, at my discretion, both to transport patients, and to teach my students rescue operations and how to provide medical care at altitude. In both of those latter cases, this qualifies. Avoid the airports. Let my people escort you back to Oregon. Otherwise, they'll just be sitting around twiddling their thumbs until the conference starts tomorrow.”

'That's a generous offer, Doc. Thank you.”

“Well, it'll be good training for them, too.”

“So we're free to go?”

“Not quite yet. I want to look at Sully's notes about the treatment he's been doing so far.”

“Of course you do,” he groused. But he knew that for Doc, there was really no choice. She wouldn't release them without knowing they would be well. It just wasn't in her nature not to be thorough and Eliot had had cause to be grateful for that too many times in the past to disrespect it now, no matter how much he might be annoyed by it at times.

“Hey! You'd better watch it, soldier-boy. I _could_ hold you for another day,” she said, in mock seriousness.

“Eliot, man, just hush,” Hardison said. “I want to go home.”

Doc had her head down, studying Sully's notes, but Eliot didn't miss the smile that came over her face and then was gone, nor did he miss the wink she dropped him as she moved back over to the side of his cot, filling a hypo as she came. She answered his unspoken question.

“Antibiotics.” He nodded. She spoke again. “I'll want a blood sample from each of you, and you'll each need one more dose of flu vaccine for good measure, and then we'll get you on the plane back to Boston.” Eliot resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Some things never changed.

(0o0)

An hour later, they were in the air, headed for Boston. Doc had chosen to come along on the flight, in  order to train her people. Parker had insisted on sitting up on the plane, and Doc had agreed, but insisted she keep the Iv in. She was still running a light grade fever, so Doc covered her with a light blanket. When she finished checking on Parker, Doc moved over next to Eliot, who had his head leaned back against the seat, with his eyes closed. When she sat down beside him, he opened his eyes.

“Are you in pain?”

He shook his head. “It isn't bad. With everything else going on, I haven't gotten much rest, and now that the work has eased off, it's catching up with me.” He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“How do you plan to get back to headquarters from the airstrip?”

“The other members of our team will bring Hardison's van to pick us up.”

“All right. I'll go back to your headquarters with you, and help you get her settled. You'll have to continue the anti-virals with Parker for a few days, and you'll need to finish your course of antibiotics.”

“I know.”

“Do they know about this?”

“Not much. A little. I told Nate I'd explain when we got back.”

“I'd like to be a fly on that wall.”

“You'll probably get to hear it. Nate isn't known for waiting for answers until company leaves.”

“When do you think you'll be hearing from Riley?”

“Depends on how convincing we were. I'd like to say never, but I have to think that that's not likely.”

“Do you think this client of his might come after you himself?” she asked with concern.

Eliot thought for a moment, and then said, “I think he might. I hope I'm wrong, but someone with the kind of money he was willing to pay Riley wouldn't have a problem tracking me down.”

“Promise me something.”

“What's that?”

“When Riley calls you, you call us. Don't go off trying to take care of this yourself. Let your friends help you with it. And you keep yourself safe. I don't want to think about life without you in it.”

“That's always a possibility, Kat. You know that.”

“I do. But if it has to happen, I don't want it to be because of something you've done. Promise me, Eliot!”

Eliot saw the look on her face. He nodded once. “That's a promise.”

 

(0o0)

Six months after the team returned to Boston, Eliot got a call in the middle of the night. When he answered with a growl, a familiar voice on the other end said, “It's done.”

“How did it happen?”

“Vance had men watching Riley. We caught the call when it came in, and got there just about the time the client turned on Riley and shot him.  He's dead.”

“And the client?”

“Well, we rounded up most of his men. Apparently, Udall wasn't acting alone.”

“We knew that.”  
“Yes, but we didn't know exactly how extensive the group he was working with was. Apparently, they had made a backup plan in case the plan failed. You were just the first part. They were planning to take you out, along with Parker and Hardison, and Vance because you all had thwarted their plans before. They wanted you out of the way before they tried again. So, they hired Riley to scout your position.”

“You said you rounded up most of the men. Not the leaders?”

“They tried to slip away, and hide out in another of their trailers. We had people following them. I guess they forgot about their proximity alarm. They died in the explosion. The whole group was wiped out.”

“So, it's over. Everybody's safe.”

“It's over, brother. Just thought you'd like to know.”

“Pass my thanks along to everyone there. And thanks for calling, Shelley.”

Eliot hung up the phone and let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. That was one more mission, finished. His friends were safe. Both teams intact. He would take it.


End file.
